Konoha Rising
by JstaSimpleWriter
Summary: In every tale, the one fallen group of many is forgotten. But in this case, the fallen will manage to rise again. Despite a single goal, conflicting views will ultimately lead to a split. Then the second War on the City of Water will begin. Alliances will be forged, friendships remade, and love will be found in the worst of the chaos.
1. Chapter 1

**So, new one and yes, still Sylvie pairing, won't forget her!(In addition, it won't be now, but later. I think a** _ **lot**_ **later.)**

 **Just for future clarification: The character is Ethan Sakamoto, but he uses the false identity of Ayato Amagiri. Let's see how this will go...**

 **Not only that, different plot, taking out some characters, adding in crossover characters, making winks to different characters in a variety of series.**

 **Chapter 1! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Huh," said a black haired teen as he strolled down the stone walkway, "So this is the famed Seidoukan?"

 _-Flashback-_

" _Sadly for us, Queenvail is all-female, so we are sending you to Seidoukan instead."_

" _What am I supposed to do there?"_

" _Kill two birds with one stone. Well, three Stregas when sent to one location."_

" _Ah..."_

" _Something wrong?"_

" _Haha! Nothing! This is just something unexpected. How come you haven't sent a female operative to Queenvail?"_

" _Hmm, the boss suggested that love may be easier to exploit than a friendship. You already know. How many have you already eliminated? Five? This should be no different. Not to worry, the beginning of the endgame is near."_

" _Agreed...Who are my three targets then?"_

" _Julis Reissfeld, Claudia Enfield, and Sylvia Lyyneheym."_

" _I see...bigger and more influential targets now."_

" _They are. We haven't been this bold since the failure against Fan Xinglou."_

" _Bold, eh...I think we should be fine."_

" _As far as I can tell, only you have the potential to get close to the woman...I suppose child now, but woman. As to handling her...this is why we'll send you to these three. If you can beat all three...We may have a chance."_

 _"Understood. Now...how am I supposed to approach?"_

 _"In two weeks you will be sent out. Feign ignorance and act like a transfer. Do whatever, but do not mention that you know them. This is slightly different than before and you don't want them asking you where you've heard of them."_

 _-Flashback End-_

Ethan Sakamoto looked around in awe as he took in the surroundings, he had originally opted for Jie Long for its Asian traditions and general freedom, but _they_ had decided against it. _They_ weren't sure if Xinglou would find out about him being with _them_ , "And do 'they' want to take that chance? _No._ "

"Besides," Ethan chuckled to himself, "Killing just one or three? Of course I'll take out three, even if the one is more powerful. Or the most. Influence is the priority."

Suddenly his vision was obscured. He pulled at the object and looked at it as it fluttered in his hand, "What's this? A handkerchief?"

He looked around on at ground level and saw nobody. "Did that mean this was carried away by the wind?" Ethan asked himself and saw a flash of movement, looking up just in time to see someone drag their hand inside once opening a window.

"Ah! That must be it! If not...the 'Lost and Found' is always an option!" He leaped up few meters agilely onto the thin branch of a tree. This advantage was given to him and many other humans, these former humans now known as Genestella, due to a meteor strike a few centuries ago that held mana, which had enhanced many people in strength, agility, and endurance to name a few qualities. Once these humans gave birth to children, they also adopted the enhancement, now known as Genestella who live among humans. However, there are a few Genestella in the world who could use the prana inside them and manipulate that pool to create their own individual advantages and enhance themselves further who are called Dantes. Oh, that's the term for males. Males are called Dantes while females are called Stregas.

"And up we go!" Ethan shouted.

Landing at the window sill, he heard a girl's voice speak, "Ugh, not again!"

"Heya! May I ask if you dropped a handkerchief?"

The woman who stared at him as she was putting on her uniform grew red with embarrassment, "T-Turn away... _now._ "

Ethan blinked and shrugged, nonchalantly complying. After a moment that he supposed was awkward silence for her, "I'll be honest, I really wouldn't care less about that. You can judge all you want. Just to let you know, I'm straight, but I don't have any interests in girls. You done yet?"

"Yes, you can turn around now," came the reply.

"Great! This is yours, right?" Ethan flashed a smile as he held out his hand holding the handkerchief and the girl froze, sighing in relief at the sight.

"Yes..." she breathed, "It is...thank you. This means so much to me... I, Julis Alexia-von Reissfield, now owe you a debt."

Just his luck, it took almost no effort for Ethan to slow his breathing and act natural, but it took effort nonetheless. He already found the first of three.

"No problem! I'll be going now, name is Ayato, by the way!" Ethan turned and started to jump out the window when he frowned and his instincts told him to move. _Quickly._ He pushed off the sill and quickly flew in the air, landing onto the soft grass below as the room behind him exploded, "What the _hell_?" Then a horrible thought occurred to him, "What...if she _knows_?"

His answer came seconds later as Julis landed and pointed a Lux at his forehead. "Wait, what's up with _that?_ What did I _do_?"

Julis, unnaturally calm, answered, "You have invaded the girls' dorm. For breaking the rules, I must dish out the appropriate punishment."

Smiling in his mind, Ethan started to protest, "Waitwaitwaitwait! I went _up there_ to return _your_ handkerchief. I had an _excuse_ to go up there. I saw the craftsmanship. I saw how long it has been cared for. I _saw_ the effort. Would you rather to have me trash the handkerchief?" Julis froze and he saw her crack. Just a bit.

"No..."

"That's good to hear!" Ethan cheered and turned around, only to quickly dash left as an attack flew by him, "What _now_?"

Julis was clearly surprised at his speed but hardened her face, "I must punish you for watching a maiden dress. In her most vulnerable moment."

"But I...ugh," he slapped his face, "How can I handle this?"

"If you beat me in a duel, I will let this go."

Cheering inside at his chance, Ethan was about to accept when he realized he had _two_ targets here. In addition to needing an opportunity to move to Sylvia later. If he made the news now... _No,_ he decided against his actions, choosing to flinch and grin weakly, "How about I use the debt t-"

"No." The sharp reply disappointed him and he sighed helplessly. Dueling in academies is the most common thing in recent history, usually a cover for schoolground fights. All one simply had to do was to distribute a challenge and the other party would accept by touching their badge and agreeing or simply declining. Luckily, Ethan had his badge on at this moment, allowing him to accept the duel. In his pondering, he noticed a crowd had gathered around. Apparently, duels were not just a common thing, but a intriguing thing here _and_ the girl was a popular person. _So, if she's popular...This may be more troublesome than I thought if I continue,_ Ethan thought when he glanced around, _Hmm, I expected them to know, but not idolizing...Well, I suppose so. Sylvia is the singer of the world, Julis is the princess, and Claudia's the student president._

"Fine, I, Ayato Amagiri, will accept your duel, Julis Alexia-von Reissfeld." A murmur ran through the crowd as he had nonchalantly accepted and Ethan grimaced. "Whoops," he muttered.

[Duel begins in twenty seconds]

"Do you have a weapon," asked Julis.

"I can do without one," Ethan replied and there was more chatter that was cut off as a voice broke through

"You can use mine!" A Lux flew through the air and he frowned at the voice. Catching the Lux without effort, he stared at the Lux as he tried but couldn't put his finger on why it sounded so familiar...

[Ten seconds...]

"Hmm," Ethan frowned.

[Five...]

"Ah! Yabuki!"

[Three...two...one...Begin!]

Julis immediately started the fight, "Burst into bloom! Longiflorum!"

Ethan feigned panic and quickly dodged each attack without effort, allowing them to miss by no more than mere millimeters. "Ah!" The crowd gasped as they fell for his antics, believing it was beginner's luck. Julis thought so too.

"Nice job, but you won't dodge this one! Burst into bloom-" Something caught Ethan's eye and he glanced right quickly to see movement. _So, the plan is set into action. Thanks, boss,_ "-Amaryllis!"

Seeing the arrow fly as the flower flew at him, Ethan smirked inwardly. He finally drew out his personal kunai, favored by his forefather, and threw it into the attack without anyone noticing and ran at it. Seeing Julis grin, Ethan took that as a signal to activate the jutsu, move through space using Flying Thunder God, materializing to his kunai, grabbing it and holstering it as he pushed Julis, jumping over her as she fell. "Wha-" she started to ask but the arrow that flew struck right next to her head and disappeared. Ethan stood calmly as Julis quickly assessed the previous events and pieced together what had just happened. "Thank-"

" _Did you see his speed? How did he move so fast?"_

" _But that nerve! He pushed the princess down!"_

" _Just like that! And look at him now! Look at his haughty face!"_

Ethan ignored the comments, knowing full-well that Julis understood, "We have a duel to finish. Come, get up."

"Arara~ Another duel? He's a newcomer and you're already getting him in duels?" Hearing the voice he turned to its origin.

"Claudia!" Julis said in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

As Ethan widened his own eyes, Claudia Enfield giggled. The older, blonde woman waved her hand, "Oh the usual, helping the newcomers. And he just needs to get his paperwork done~"

Ethan sighed in 'relief' and Claudia perked, "Oh right! You'll have to save the duel for later. I'm going to call it void for now."

[Duel canceled]

"Now, let us finish your paperwork~"

* * *

They walked down the hallway to the student council office briskly, "Thanks Claudia. Just in time too." _Now I don't have to bother asking or searching for **you** , you came right into my hands and now slowly moving towards the tip of my blade._

"Anytime, just be more careful. That woman tends to challenge others a lot."

"I see..." Ethan murmured, trying to recall what was his second purpose here. "So, what about the paperwork?"

"There's none. I just wanted to stop the duel." Ethan nodded absently as his mind ran on and on, trying to figure out what he needed today. The loss of Claudia in his vision snapped him back to the present and once they entered Claudia's office, she faced him.

"Ah, you know about the academies right?"

"Eh, slightly. Only Jie Long."

Claudia giggled and lifted her hand, summoning a presentation, "Well, I'll get explaining then. In Asterisk, there are six academies, Galahadworth, Rewolf, Arlequint, Jie Long, Queenvail, and finally Seidoukan."

Ethan's eyes hardened, _But you don't mention the school that the Enterprise took down. Then again...unfortunately for you, your ignorance will kill you. You can put the blame on your ancestors._

"Of course, there's also a student president on each campus and each academy has its own notable features.

"In Galahadworth, most of the students are honorable and rarely issue duels, in contrast to Re Wolf, the most lawless of the academies as far as I've heard.

"Arlequint is essentially the academy pulling off most of the research. Other academies conduct research, but this is the most prominent one, building autonomous machines and Luxes for commercial use.

"In Jie Long, you already know it's more isolated from the Enterprise and holds more specific ethnical traditions than all other academies.

"Queenvail is the only all-girls school in the entire city and even has the nickname, 'Secret Flower Garden' because of the girl population there.

"Finally, Seidoukan is the school with the largest population of Dante and Stregas. In addition there's me that's here!" Ethan laughed as Claudia smiled at her joke and when his laughter died down.

In his thoughts, Ethan gave his own description of his former academy, where every surviving faculty and student forced into hiding, _And Konoha, arguably the strongest next to Jie Long, the more ambitious twin of that school and was ranked the toughest to pass. The few students of said academy that managed to graduate were always successful. The ones that fail were permanently removed and transferred to restart from the first year at another academy. The fall of Konoha...that's another story for another day._

"Any questions?"

"Uh, just a few," Ethan raised a finger, "You are the president of this one?"

Claudia smiled sweetly, "Of course, that's why I'm here with you, and why I have this office to use." Ethan nodded happily but had known two weeks prior to today. Just as he remembered what other reason he was to be here, he asked another question first.

"Is there a girl named Sylvia in Queenvail?"

Claudia turned curious and didn't answer as her face showed surprise. "What?" Ethan repeated the question.

Claudia giggled then laughed, "Arara~ Trying to stalk the student president of Queenvail and world Songtress?"

"Huh?" he acted clueless but strained to keep his posture. Knowing too much is a problem at times and emotions must be given at those times.

"There is only one Sylvia in Queenvail so far and she is the president of that school and world-known singer."

"Oh..." he scratched his head, "Well, not to me. That's pretty awkward then. May you show me?'

Claudia smirked and brought up the web, showing Ethan many songs, albums and even few videos of her singing. When asked, Claudia also showed him videos of the Songtress fighting and her ability to handle opponents easily impressed him, "If she is on this level...why did she approach me?"

Claudia turned, "'Approach you?'"

"Well, she looked completely different but she walked the same and sounds the same. So...why not assume? In addition, she mentioned Queenvail and to see her one day there."

"When did this happen?" Claudia narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, just yesterday when I left the Ko-uhh, just came to Asterisk, I went to get a drink for myself. We both bumped into each other and she knocked over my drink onto my clothes. Sylvia offered to buy me new ones afterwards," Ethan blushed, "And somehow we went on a date."

"You are quite a seducer," Claudia teased and Ethan sighed.

"Dunno, I 'asked her out' I suppose. Really, I asked if she knew places to go to since it was the first time I _actually walked_ the streets of Asterisk. She took that as a nonchalant way of asking her on a date and didn't take it too well."

"Really?" Ethan was silent, recalling what had happened hours earlier.

" _Hey, you don't seem like a bad person, mind showing me the city?"_

" _..."_

" _What wrong?"_

" _What's wrong is that you're making a move on me, are you not?"_

" _Huh? No! I mean, you look pretty cute and all, but I won't like,_ _ **care**_ _! I'm new to the city, literally got here early morning and I feel like I'll be lost finding my way around."_

" _..."_

" _Ah, if it doesn't feel right, you don't have to. Thanks for the new clothes though, Sylvia. Luckily I won't go to a tour guide looking like just I threw up on my shirt and shorts."_

 _..._

" _Wait!"_

" _What's up? Do I have to pay you back one day? I cou-"_

" _No, it's not that. Uhm, I'll show you around."_

" _Ho? Thanks!"_

Ethan laughed nervously, "Yeah, but I told her I was new to Asterisk, technically I _was_ , and if she was suspicious I would be fine on exploring by myself. Sylvia didn't really care but took on my request just before I rounded around the corner. That honestly surprised me and I'm not sure _what_ changed her mind...but that's how our date started. She admitted that she didn't expect that to happen but enjoyed the date...er, tour I guess. Not even sure which it was at this point."

Claudia nodded while smiling slightly. "I was glad for that. Not the date, but the tour."

"Are you really going to pass up a potential girlfriend just like that?" Claudia asked.

Suspicious and hesitant, "Well, what's wrong with that?"

"Are you dense?" Claudia giggled "If something like that happens with a girl like her, take the chance."

Ethan nodded, _So, Claudia seems friendly, Sylvia may open up if I take things slowly, the only loose-cannon may be Julis. Have to also take things slowly with her._

"One last question," he stated, "How do we request for an Ogre Lux?" _Specifically, the one my family is_ _ **supposed**_ _to own. Before it was taken from them._

* * *

 **Morning:**

"Eishirou!" Ethan exclaimed after seeing the brown-haired teen in a green hoodie.

"Hello new roommate. I guess you already got my name," he smirked. "Anyhow, Yabuki Eishirou, nice to meet you."

"Ayato Amagiri," Ethan's eyes glinted and Yabuki gave a small chuckle.

"ALRIGHT CLASS! Sit down!" Ethan turned to see the apparent homeroom teacher walk in. Listening to her words, he moved to his seat until, "Except you, Mr. Amagiri! Get to the front of the classroom and introduce yourself!"

Ethan 'nervously' walked to the front and stood for a moment, letting the noise die down, "Hey, everyone. I'm Ayato Amagiri and just transferred here recently from a country much farther away from here, but simply...Please make my time here enjoyable!" He bowed as the class politely clapped.

As Ethan walked by to his seat, he flicked the head of a cyan-haired student who was dozing off out of habit, "Hey, try not to sleep." The girl raised her head rather annoyed at the interruption to her rest and frowned. He blinked, "Ah, my bad. It's out of habit. My old school outside Asterisk, nobody was to sleep and we would be punished if we were cau-"

"Saya Sasamiya! Are you sleeping?"

He cut in, "Nah, she was just bored with my introduction. Not to worry, sensei!" The teacher grunted and he patted the back of Saya and continued on, not seeing Saya narrow her eyes slightly.

The day went by without any noticeable events. The teacher droned on and on about the lesson they were learning. When asked to recall, Ethan simply stared blankly at until the class was released. Saved by the bell, he stood and left with Yabuki, speaking about what each other missed during the time they worked in different locations.

"Ah, here's your Lux," Ethan held out his hand holding the blade. Yabuki shook his head.

"Still sharp as ever..." he sighed.

"Well, _duh_ , anyhow, thanks for that. Otherwise, I may have had to use the Thunder God kunai more often," Ethan pointed out.

Yabuki nodded, "Yup. That's true...Luckily nobody caught you using it, not even the princess."

"There's one," Ethan smirked in reply.

"Ah, yes. The boy talking to you now. What do you think of the princess?"

"Julis...Not too shabby but I don't see her matching up to anyone we know in Konoha."

Yabuki slapped his forehead, "Of course...You're supposed to be a prodigy."

"Hey, you too!" He nudged the brown-haired teen then lowered his voice as people passed by them, "You passed the acting one with flying colors _and_ your accuracy is impeccable. Anyhow, Julis is a real princess?"

"Yup, bona fide princess. No need to ask again. About her, nobody knows why she's here at all. That's what gathered people's attention. In addition, she pushes others away from her, no matter how they try to approach her."

"Really?" Ethan raised an eyebrow.

Yabuki chuckled in return, "Yeah...'I'm not a freak show! Leave me alone!'" Both laughed while Ethan shook his head. "Not many people took her kindly, sending challenges after challenges, but she handled herself pretty well."

"Yeah, against normal students...but we are Konoha students. The top of the top. She would have stood no chance if I were to actually try to kill her." A wicked smile was sent in return.

Yabuki snorted, "Of course you would say that...If you tried, you probably could reach Rank One in no time at all. Your speed is _way_ out of her league, fastest I've ever seen and Seidoukan's current Rank One is _fast_. You're movement can be very unpredictable with Flying Thunder God, you most simple move, Rasengan, is freakishly deadly. Most of all, even if your kunai doesn't have to hit the mark and you just have to use the FTG comboed with Taijutsu to handle the opponent, you can literally _snipe_ with your kunai. Not to mention, they aren't traditional kunai, but can be used as melee weapons. Even wielded between your teeth, and you've beaten Siegfried with just three kunai...I can see why you are just like your ancestor."

"Heh," came the reply. By this time, they were outside the school and heading down the cobblestone walkway.

"Hey...is that Lester?" Yabuki looked ahead when he heard a shout. "Oh ho! It is! Talk about a scoop! I think that's Julis!" Yabuki took out a camera, reminding Ethan of his roles. Editor of the Seidoukan Newspaper Club, member of the Shinobi Shadow Stars, and finally, the spy of Konoha _in_ the Shinobi Shadow Stars.

"Wait, why's this important?" Ethan questioned, "Is he one of the top ranked students?"

"Yup, both Lester and Julis are Page Ones, the top twelve students. They are in seven and five respectively, however, as you can probably tell...They aren't in good terms. Lester challenged the princess multiple times-"

"And let me guess from here, utter failure."

"Hah!" Yabuki barked, "Yup! Anyho-" Both students covered their eyes at the sudden brightness and Ethan widened his eyes.

"Holy!" _Julis...Julis Alexia-von Reissfeld, the Witch of the Resplendent Flames...That has a nice ring to it! Now, to stop her before she toasts...uh, Lester! Before she makes Lester a human steak._

He ran out into the opening and endured the flames, grabbing Julis's shoulder. Surprised, she put out the flames, "What are you doing! Won't you be hurt?"

Smirking, "You don't seem to worry about doing that to Lester a few moments ago." Julis hesitated and Lester grabbed Ethan, only to have the boy slip out of his grasp and he looked behind him to see him patting himself off. Lester looked at the floor and noticed a simple log clattering as it fell over.

"Who do you think you are kid?!"

"That's not nice, you shouldn't yell at women like that," Ethan scolded. Lester flared but his two friends managed to calm him down enough and lead him away. As the tall, lanky boy glared over his shoulder, Ethan gave a teasing wave while smirking. He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Julis smiling slightly. "You're fine, right?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yabuki send a grim nod and immediately leave, freely letting Ethan start building the bond that will eventually kill Julis.

"Yeah," she laughed while answering, "You seem to have handled him pretty easily, Ayato. How'd you manage it?"

He flashed a smile, "Well, the teachers and examination proctors were much, _much_ worse than him from where I transferred from. He's nothing."

Julis became curious, "Where _did_ you come from?"

He opened his mouth to answer but stopped himself and took effort from glaring, "Eh...Some academy from outside Asterisk."

She stared at him for a moment, "Well...I guess. Let's see how long you'll last here."

"A long time I'll bet! This school is pretty tame!" Julis looked over his shoulder and he gave a thumbs up in response. Julis smiled a timid one and turned to walk away until Ethan called to her, "Eh, about your debt thingy."

Julis froze, "Uh...yes. What do you want me to do?"

"How about a tour of the school? I don't even know which way is the boy's dorm." She started at him for a moment and giggled before laughing out-loud and bending over as she caught her breath.

She looked up and saw Ethan grinning, "Yes?"

Shaking his head, "Nothing. Your laugh is really nice, that's all." Julis blushed and quickly sputtered while pointing at the direction of the boys dorm. Ethan nodded thanks and started jogging, not noticing as Julis watched him the whole time with a strange look on her face.

* * *

 **Next day, afterschool:**

"Morning, Julis!" Ethan waved as he walked by. Julis looked up absent mindedly at him and nodded.

"Ah, morning, Ayato." The class froze and started to quietly mutter and as Julis was about to rant, Ethan held her shoulder and winked unbeknownst to their classmates, making her flush. He mouthed, 'Ignore them, not worth your time.' Julis nodded. "Anyhow, since we have a whole day today, do you want to start immediately?"

"Sure, wh-"

"What about a meeting today?" a voice interrupted.

Both noticed that Saya had woken up from her desk, rubbing her eyes. "Ah, Julis said she'd do me a favor, so I asked her to show me around school. Then the city the day after tomorrow. Since we have a three-day weekend. Pretty convenient, if you ask me."

"She doesn't look to happy though..." Saya muttered.

"What gives you that idea?" Julis cried.

"Well, first off your face and tone..." Saya replied stoically. "Why don't I do it?"

"No, if word gets out that I went back on my promise, what will people think?"

"At least Ayato will have a person who is willing to guide him around," Saya shot back

"Arara~ If that's the case, why don't _I_ do it? I've been what you call a bona fide student since year one," Claudia interjected.

"Permission denied."

"Don't care who you are, no," Saya glared.

Claudia feigned sadness, "Why you gotta be so rude? Don't you know I'm human too?"

Julis frowned, "Anyhow, don't you have a lot to do as a president?"

"Ah, about that. It's hard if all the students are so well-behaved, you know. Ayato, here are the papers you need. Just sign as I've filled out all the personal information for you ahead of time."

He smiled, "Thanks, Claudia." He scribbled said signature and after erasing, he looked up, "Claudia and Julis, I've been wondering, are the two of you friends?"

"Of course~"

"Not in your life!" That caused a problem. If he were to bring them together, he'd need a good reason then.

"How rude," Claudia giggled, "Anyhow, I'll leave you guys alone to deal with the 'favor.'"

Julis flushed, "It's actually a favor, Claudia! Don't make it something scandalous!"

"Of course I won't~"

"J-Just go!" Ethan held back his smiles as Claudia walked out the room happily waving behind her.

"So...when do we start?"

* * *

Ethan and Saya followed Julis as she showed both of them the different areas of the school, "This, this is the newspaper club HQ." Saya stared in wonder.

"This is the public indoors training room," Julis waved, "At the back is outdoors in case the students don't like the interior."

"The library is over there," Julis pointed and at Saya's comment, turned, "Hey, you know I'm not giving the tour to _you_ right?"

"I know, but I'm directionally challenged," Saya replied calmly.

Julis nodded but stopped, "Wait...Then why did you offer Ayato a tour if you are worse than m-"

"Hey," Ethan spoke up, "I'll...go get some ice-cream. You guys might need something to eat after the walk." Both nodded and he left. Taking a look at the flavors, he hesitated for a moment then shrugged and chose two strawberry ice-cream cones. Thinking about earlier, Julis wasn't that friendly to Claudia, which presented the first problem with two targets. The first and only one he had before were much easier as the two girls didn't know that he was 'cheating' and when he brought them together intentionally, killed them both and another boy in the process to imply a scene. Recalling the headlines, he laughed at how perfect it went.

Ethan was surprised when he returned to the destruction of the area he was just in. _That explained the explosion earlier,_ he thought and blinked. "Hey, Saya, you don't wear anything under the uniform?"

"Huh? I don't need to," she replied after a quick glance at her shirt which became translucent after being soaked.

Julis pushed Ethan's face away from her, "Don't look at me!"

"H-hey! Didn't I already say I'm not interested in stuff like that already?"

* * *

 **Night:**

"Claudia? I'm coming in!" Ethan called. He had seen her lightly scribbled note on the line for a signature and came here to respect the request.

"Mm, just in time~" he glanced to the left and saw steam coming out from the bathroom and Claudia came out dressed in just a bathrobe.

"That...was intentional, isn't it?" Came a tired sigh at her appearance.

"Well, I hope you don't mind, this is what I wear here everyday."

"Well..." Ethan shrugged. "Sure."

"I'm sorry to say, but the compatibility exam had to be delayed. I think you'll have to do it on Monday's break."

"Oh..." he blinked, "Well, not a problem. Ogre Lux or not, I'll handle myself.

"Of course. It's interesting that you seem so capable."

"Heh," Ethan breathed, "Oh! I'll have to inform Julis too! That I'll be unavailable on Monday."

Claudia snapped her fingers, "Right! About Julis..."

"Yes?"

"Can you watch over her?"

"...?" Claudia snapped her fingers in his face, "Why me?"

"I can trust you, that's why. Because lately, the potential Phoenix frontrunners have been attacked and sent to the hospital. Not only that, they refused help and insisted that when they got better, they would gain revenge by taking out their attacker."

"Uh-huh...?" Ethan had a suspicious feeling that it was his guys. The ones who watched him. They don't execute mass injuries and they aim to murder. But...Dantes and Stregas...that's who they all target. His mind snapped back to the present.

"Julis is different than most people. If she has something she cares about, she'll go out of her way to protect it. Not only that, if they target something valuable to her...Can you see?"

Ethan nodded slowly, "Ah...but what would be so important?"

"I...don't know. She distances herself from others, but you seem to be an exception. The only person right now who she opens up to. Even if it's slightly."

"Okay. I will. Now, do you know who would is causing these attacks?"

Claudia seemed deep in thought, "Either Jie Long or Arlequint. Galahadworth and Queenvail are out of the question as their reputations would be at stake. In addition, they have more to lose from this than to gain.

"Rewolf _could_ , but they are focusing on the Lindwurm Festa currently and I see no reason why Seidoukan would attack themselves," Claudia sighed. _Of course..._ _ **I**_ _know we blackmailed the guy to do it. What a 'shame' that he'll be eliminated once his purpose is done..._

"Hmm, I see. Yabuki knows all this too?" Ethan stood.

"Yeah, he's taking a look. Lester and Randy are suspects. Now if you are wondering about Silas-"

 _Here goes nothing,_ Ethan thought and interrupted, "I heard, he has an alibi. Still suspicious, as they never seem to separate."

"..." Claudia stared, "Eve-"

"Think, Claudia. Those three work as a group. Right?" Claudia nodded silently, "Now, Lester and Randy have their alibis, but no people to vouch for them. So, no alibi. The least Silas can do is vouch for _them_."

"B-"

" _But,_ he stayed in his room the whole day. The one day out of how many, Claudia? One out of how many days they've been bullying people together?"

"..." Claudia recalled, "One of all of their days."

"Well, it's true they must split at night for their own rooms. But see my point? Today, the day the attacks happened, he was _home_. One day of _all_. That's in general every villain's alibi, stayed somewhere the _whole day_. Always the perpetrator."

Claudia smiled mischievously, "You _are_ perceptive. Even more so than me. Even if you are younger by three years, you could easily be twice my age in almost every angle just by looking at you from now and earlier."

"Heh," Ethan smiled, "So, try to find proof and have Yabuki keep his eye on Silas. I don't trust him. But, _but!_ I'll keep up the acts. Let me see if Lester and Randy are innocent and see if you can pick up evidence on Silas. I may be wrong, but this is all too coincidental."

Claudia stood and walked to the fridge, taking out a can of root beer and handing it to him, who smiled in thanks and drank a sip. They chatted until late night when Ethan stood, thanked his sister and reminded her to watch Silas closely, 'nervously' rejecting her request to stay the night.

Ethan jumped down and landed lightly on the ground. "So far, so good. Now to move on Julis before I can see if I can get Sylvia..." He kept alert on the to his room. When he did so, he dialed a number and the other person picked up.

[...Hello?]

"Hey," he answered, "Do you think you can change your schedule tomorrow?"

[...Uhm, how come?]

"I'll be busy on Monday with the Ogre Lux compatibility instead of tomorrow."

[Are you trying to make a move on me?]

"Huh?" Ethan was confused, "You said that you'll give me a tour tomorrow and I'm just informing yo-"

[I said that?]

"Wait, you aren't...Julis...?"

[No?]

He stared at the name, that ran at the bottom of the call, "Sylvia..."

[That's me?]

"I'm so, _so_ sorry. Julis Reissfeld said she owed me a favor and she accepted my request to give a tour of Seidoukan and Asterisk. Well, the second half since you gave me one earlier today."

He waited in awkward silence and only listened to the breathing on the other side. "I hope we are okay?"

He heard a giggle and then a laugh.

[That's okay. If you don't mind, do you think we could finish the Asterisk tour? Tell Julis that you'll be busy tomorrow?]

He became nervous, unsure of what to do. Well, he had a few months to build his relationship with Julis and they attended the same school. Sylvia on the other hand..."Okay, I'll see what I can do. Can I contact you tomorrow morning? Like ten?"

[Anytime in the morning is fine. I wake up early anyhow. Hope to see you then.]

Ethan ended the call and then brought up a call for Julis after double-checking that it was her contact, "Hey, uh Julis?"

[Hmm? Yes?]

"Uh, sorry if I woke you up."

[Oh, no problem. I was just getting ready to sleep now. What's wrong?]

"Bad news. Kinda. My compatibility test for the Ogre Lux has been delayed and a friend of mine is going to need my help with personal business tomorrow. I doubt you'll be able to show me around Asterisk.

[...]

"Julis? Don't feel like you owe me something. You won't."

[No, it's nothing. I appreciate that you'll accept what little I gave. Just...stay safe.]

"Of course I would. Why do you need to ask?"

[To make sure. Please, watch yourself.]

Ethan didn't like her tone and the way she worded the statements the way she did. Something just felt...off. Not in a bad way, but she is troubled. Seriously troubled.

"I will. Promise."

Those few words allowed him to feel Julis's relief.

[Thank yo- Uh, thanks. I don't trust that you'll be exempt from the same attackers who targeted me. T-that's all! Don't see it as anything else!]

* * *

 **Next day, afternoon:**

"Is _that_ what you wear on a date?" Sylvia put her hands on her hips.

Ethan only shrugged nonchalantly, "It's only a tour. So I didn't dre-Did you say a ' _date'?_ I thought you didn't want this to be one?"

"Well, yeah. I did. But I just thought that you should get me something in return because I accepted your request."

Lowering his voice, "In that case...I probably should've had _Julis_ instead."

"Did you say something?"

"Eh? No! I wanted to ask if you want to start now!" Ethan quickly covered up his slip. As he started to move forward, he didn't see Sylvia secretly stifling a laugh behind his back. They walked around for hours and at Ethan's urging, finished at the pier between Seidoukan and Queenvail.

He turned from the setting sun, "Sorry if I feel like I'm going to do something. I've just heard that the view here at this time is splendid."

Sylvia tilted her head, "You haven't been here before?"

"Nah, transferred. As I said when we first met that day, I am new to Asterisk."

She locked eyes with him and he smiled before turning away, "New huh...? Something seemed off."

"Hmm?" Ethan asked as he turned.

Sylvia wasn't convinced, "But...if you _didn't_ know the place, why did you get irked at me bumping into you? You stated that the place you bought it from was the best locally. You don't get that unless you've stayed a _very_ long time."

He sighed, "Asking around?"

She smirked, "So, you 'asked' me out to keep tabs on me or what?"

Surprised at the mention of that, he assured her, "No, no! That's purely an accident. I swear! Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye! But it's thanks to you I finally got to map out the city."

Sylvia turned back to the railing. She seemed to relax a slight bit and Ethan leaned on the railing with his elbows. "Makes sense. The first thing you would do if you were new is ask where to go." Ethan nodded subtly.

They watched the sun set while they chatted as if they were long-time friends. As she opened more and more while he avoided pressing questions that would reveal his true intentions, Ethan smiled as he felt the satisfaction of killing another contributor to the fall of his academy. His _original_ one.

They waved farewell and he started off in the opposite direction of Sylvia. However, after a few minutes, he felt a tingling feeling that sent shivers down his spine. He touched the ground lightly and felt no presence and was confused. Until he heard a scream, "Uwaaahh!"

 _That's...Sylvia!_ Ethan's thought flashed in his mind and he quickly ran to the direction where Sylvia should be if she walked at the same pace as him before quickly stopping. His thoughts were mixed: Did he mess up this time around? Did Sylvia find out about him and _they_ stepped in to eliminate her themselves? _No...they always contact the operator and break the news before elimination_ _ **then**_ _they would fix them up. This is an outsider._

He saw her curled up and a hooded figure standing over her, a menacing darkness seeping from the figure as it attacked the student president of Queenvail. Hurling a kunai at the assailant, Ethan held out his hand and quickly brought a spiraling blue ball into his palm and when the opponent dodged, he moved in front of him, grabbed his kunai and brought the ball in towards him, " **Rasengan!** "

The opponent dodged and the ball slammed into the floor, forming a crater and sending chunks of rocks flying up, ruining the paved floor. " _ **Who...are you to her?"**_

"A friend. I won't let you harm her. Even if I don't know her well, I don't think anyone will deal with her death well at all." He watched the hooded figure as he quickly formed hand seals while the darkness started moving towards him.

" _ **Hmm, since you already saw me, I guess I'll make you forget too."**_

 _Bird!_ Ethan thought as he quickly finished the last seal, " **Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!** " The darkness stopped and from the ocean nearby rose multiple streams of water, forming into a dragon that glared at the enemy for one moment before slamming into him. Calmly walking over and examining the area, he saw nobody. _Nothing. They escaped. Probably shouldn't have used that jutsu. Not my trump card...but powerful nonetheless._

He quickly turned and caught Sylvia, "You...didn't hurt her did you?"

"'Her?'" Ethan started, "That was a she?"

"Y-yes...My teacher. Is she dead?"

Ethan looked back at the crater, "Probably not. There's alway something that'll remain from that attack. Since there's nothing, I can guess that she teleported somewhere. Give me a moment."

He tapped the floor and shot his head right. He pointed in that direction and started to move when Sylvia grabbed his arm.

"Don't chase after her. I want to wait a bit so I can go myself," Sylvia gritted out as she gasped in pain.

 _Is this...the person behind the attacks on students?_ Ethan was unsure. Considering her teacher handled Sylvia rather easily...it could be no doubt that it was her and not Silas. But something didn't feel right. All the attacks were done by a third-person party and they remembered their attacks. This aura...this sucked knowledge. It erased memories and if the victim was unfortunately weak enough, amnesia won't be the worst. The worst would be _death_. Luckily that was avoided with Sylvia, who he saw was still struggling. Whether the effects and aftereffects or simply the shock of seeing her teacher that viewed Sylvia as an enemy.

In conclusion, it couldn't be her teacher. The attacker is powerful, but not this specific one because nobody is _dead_. It could be Silas...but he knew the risks and that _they_ would simply erase him from the face of the earth if _they_ found out. They only allowed Silas to fire _that **one** arrow_ and nothing else. Period. Ethan was getting frustrated, if someone took _his_ targets...he would _not_ be happy.

Shoving the anger aside, he returned his attention to the present.

"Sylvia..." Ethan said quietly.

"Yes?"

"This is probably a bit too personal, but who and what happened to your teacher?"

Sylvia was silent and started to speak. Ethan learned that she was the student of Ursula Svento, who taught Sylvia everything Sylvia knew. Almost no knowledge came from outside her teacher. Then she simply disappeared one day for months. Until today. Sylvia felt that something was wrong and the moment she thought so, she was attacked.

Sylvia felt the immense pain. She didn't want to give up knowing just from _feeling_ the darkness that it would consume her. It would kill her. Sylvia described the pain, described the feeling of the darkness. The void. He simply listened out of habit...but somehow got caught up in her words. He didn't know what made him want to listen. But listen he did. When she stumbled, he picked her up in a bridal carry, making her blush and protest.

"Hey, at this rate, we'll reach Queenvail in the morning. Just let me do this once so you can get back." Sylvia was tense for almost the entire trip but only relaxed when she realized he had no ill intentions and was fully pure. Or she thought. Not in _that_ way, but this was intentional.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he noticed her shifting.

"N-nothing..." he nodded and started walking again, "Ayato, I forgot to say, thank you."

"Pssh, don't worry about it. It's just part of what I do. It's really a habit by now, protecting those who need help." Sylvia started to reply but yawned tiredly. She apologized, slightly embarrassed, and rested her head on his arm, slowly fell asleep in his arms at the steady pace of his brisk walk. Ethan glanced down and chuckled at the occasion and simply continued on without interruption, but kept watching the buildings and surroundings, until he realized he had his chance. _A perfect chance_. In addition, it was almost time for the daily report. In seconds, a call was brought up and when he picked up, there was only the sound of a robotic voice due to the encryptions.

[Oi, how's it today?]

"Perfect. I got Claudia's interest, along with the complete trust of Sylvia. Julis is the only person I haven't been able to capture completely."

[Good...good.]

"Hey, boss. In fact, I have Sylvia right now."

[Wait, so you already kidnapped her and are in a secluded area?]

"No, I saved her from someone and she's sleeping on me. We are in a public area and I can handle her right now. She won't even know what killed her and I can dump her into the sea."

[Perfect! Do so now!]

Ethan smiled devilishly and when he took out a push-blade and nimbly spinning it in his fingers, he stopped. What made his boss so eager to kill her? Yes, Sylvia is supposed to be a descendant of one person who assisted in the fall of Konoha...

But yet he felt that something was off. Ethan wanted to find out what. "Boss? Can I hold off the assassination? Besides, I can simply lead her to her death anytime. Just...want information out of her."

There was a tangible, angry silence on the other line. When he spoke, he spat out the words.

[Fine, but you have a month limit. No more. Obviously you can kill her before that.]

"One last thing. Are you sending someone to take _my_ targets from me?"

There was a tense silence and the anxiety was noticeable.

[No? We only sent you and him. Although he hasn't returned yet.]

"I see. When is he supposed to? I saw him relaxing a while ag-...Oh."

[Hey, kid. What's up?]

"I think I know." He explained everything. How there was someone taking out the Phoenix Festa front-runners and the attacker may be Silas, along with two other students. But as he was concluding, his boss finished for him.

[Silas wants protection from us. I see. He's going to injure those people and if he manages to escape, protest that he is following in our footsteps. But...one, he isn't killing them. Two, _we_ give the orders on who to kill. Ethan.]

"Yes?"

[You have the green light to eliminate him. Wipe him off the face of the earth. If not, it's fine. We'll handle him. Back to Sylvia, kill her soon too.]

Yes...there was an eagerness. This didn't seem like the usual, but instead as if there was a vendetta...But how can he know this seventeen-year old girl?

"Thank you, sir." He ended the call quickly to avoid him changing his mind. Ethan felt strange, _what_ made him want to protect Sylvia all of a sudden?

Her ancestors helped the Enterprise take down Konoha...right? Konoha was forced to suffer horribly and humiliation before being shut down. They all laughed at his ancestors, didn't they? They stole everything and left the remaining teachers and students to hide in the shadows, unwilling to help...right?

Did he _truly want information?_ Or was it his boss's eagerness that made him hesitate? The KRS is supposed to eradicate the students who caused the fall of Konoha before personal vendettas. In fact, targets for vendettas are strictly forbidden. Or was it...Ethan shook his head.

 _No, my purpose is to have her like me and I kill her. I cannot like her at all. I'm not supposed to._

Continuously pondering about her, Ethan eventually reaching the outer gates of Queenvail. He shook awake Sylvia and when she uttered a cute noise after a yawn, he froze at the sight of her beautiful face and slowly opening beady, purple eyes that shone. "Ugnh, we're there?"

"Uh, yeah," Ethan quickly answered as he glanced away. Sylvia climbed off and started to bow in thanks when he stopped her, "I'm the subordinate and require nothing like this. You're the superior one, Sylvia."

She smiled, "Sylvie. Please call me that. My friends do."

He simply shrugged in reply and Sylvia grabbed his arm. "Let me do this as thanks ay least," she rose and gave a peck right on his lips and drew away blushing lightly. As Ethan held the spot, "Are you sure you'll be safe getting back on your own? I won't let you do that."

He laughed, "Because you told me so much about you, I'll tell you something. I don't need to walk. I can simply use Flying Thunder God to move around if I must."

Sylvia stood watching as she didn't understand and after a smile, Ethan saw her face widen in surprise and his surroundings became his room as he stood in front of his desk that had the kunai with the tag stabbed into the wood. "There we go! I think she'll understand now."

* * *

 **Next day, morning:**

Ethan turned when someone forcibly grabbed his arm, "Are you hurt?"

"What are you talking ab-"

Julis cut him off, "I know you're the one who caused all that at the pier. It's too coincidental for it to _not_ be you. What happened?"

Quickly glancing at the time, he looked at Julis, "How about I tell you later? I have to go to the compatibility test now." Julis adamantly shook her head and reluctantly explained most of the details, leaving out that the attacker was Sylvia's former teacher and Julis's face hardened noticeably. "Julis?"

She glanced up sadly and reached for a pocket but quickly stopped herself, "It's...nothing. Really, it's nothing." Julis started to walk backwards and then turned around, quickly moving towards the exit.

Ethan narrowed his eyes and wanted to chase after her, but today is his final and only chance to be able to use the Ser-Veresta. As to why...he just felt like he needed an Ogre Lux and this Lux was originally his own family's before it was confiscated in the Konoha Rebellion.

Ethan quickly entered the elevator and it zoomed to the underground floors of the academy. Feeling the tense atmosphere and seeing Claudia quickly glance his way before returning her attention to the testing area, Ethan quickened his pace and walked up to her, "What's wrong?"

"A lot. McPhail tried to become the user for the Ser-Veresta and it quickly rejected him. Afterward, it basically went rogue and attacked anyone and anything that got near. I'm afraid that you can't ge-Ayato!" He had entered the area and the proctor quickly went for the microphone.

[Mr. Amagiri! Please, step away from the testing area now! It's not safe with the Se-]

"If nobody can handle it, I will! If everybody is afraid to try, who will? I will! Now, shut up and let me-" he didn't have a chance to finish as the sword flew right at him the moment it sensed his presence in the chamber. Nimbly rolling away from it, if a sword could show surprise, it definitely did. There was a malevolent hum as it aimed its blade at Ethan and flew faster than Claudia and proctor could see.

When it impaled him, he was caught off-guard and blood flew out from behind him. Clauda screamed as the proctor started to reach for the emergency medical attention button. But Ethan simply exploded into a puff of smoke and they looked to the side to see him standing unharmed. "Not bad...not bad. I see you don't like being tested and would rather choose to go full-out."

The sword nodded in mid-air and thrusted, to which he sidestepped and ducked under the following slash, rolling under the blade and performing a rail flip up onto his feet, seeing the movement of the sword as it attacked him slow down and he smiled. Dodging another slash, he feigned and the sword followed, leaving the hilt open.

Grabbing the hilt, the sword tried to shake him off, but sending all the prana into his arms, Ethan quickly slammed the blade of the sword hilt-deep into the steel floor, the edges glowing as it melted into liquids.

[My god. Compatibility rate, 89.8%]

"Bah, not an 'A,' right, Ser-Veresta?" The blade shut off and Ethan picked it up, twirling it in his hands. _After few generations, we can finally hold it again. Mom...dad...I will make sure I will keep this forever and away from the hands of the Enterprise again._

He walked up to Claudia only to be slapped and scolded for making her worry, as she thought he had died in the initial attack. At that moment, he felt an uneasy feeling and Claudia shared the same experience. "Hey...did you..."

"Yes, I don't like this. Try and find Julis. And take the Ser-Veresta with you."

"Yes, Claudia. I fear something is wrong too, I have to go." Ethan gave no hesitation and sprinted out onto the hallway, up the stairs and onto the streets faster than Claudia can blink. The proctor was unused to the speed.

[Uh, Ms. Enfield, where did he run off to?]

* * *

Julis at the time Ethan had handled the Ser-Veresta, had chosen to meet the perpetuator of all the attacks of the Festa front-runners.

Finally meeting him, she found out that it was Silas Norman and was slightly surprised at that. Minutes after, Lester McPhail had come along too, unbeknownst to them that it was his plan: To kill them and blame all the attacks on Lester and have the two of them fall to each other's attacks when they dueled a decisive duel.

Refusing to fight each other and instead working together to capture Silas, the latter was disappointed and sent puppets at them to kill them himself. They quickly took down Lester as even the intimidator was intimidated at the resilience and number of enemies, but didn't have an easier time with Julis but they never tired.

She, on the other hand, fought for minutes against countless enemies and when trying to incinerate attacks, the gesture was futile and she was injured. Now facing a much larger puppet as it raised its axe, she hoped that at the least, Lester would wake and manage to spread the news of Silas's treachery.

However, on the inside, she prayed for a miracle that someone, or something would save her. Seeing the axe fly through the air, she shut her eyes tightly, the pain in her thigh ebbing away.

Lucky for her, she never felt the axe.

* * *

 **There we go. Chapter one complete. Chapter two is WIP and so is chapter eleven for Prove you Wrong! Albeit it'll be a bit slow. Once I upload that one, it'll probably be a bit quicker as I will not use the site anymore but rather Drive to do so. Favorite, follow, review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2. I may start a new way to set up the scene breaks. Shown below, that's how I may introduce it from now on. Throw me your opinions about them!**

* * *

 **[Loading previous file...]**

 **[...]**

 **[Asterisk, abandoned parking garage]**

 **[September 27, 2239 - 18:35]**

Julis thought she was done, but just as she had prayed, a miracle did come. "Ōdama Rasengan!"

The bulky puppet was blown apart by the force of the attack and as Silas and Julis stared at the newcomer, he dusted himself off while his companion disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Just in time, no?" Ethan flashed a smile as Julis sighed a sigh of relief. But it didn't last long as her arm was twisted and she screamed in pain and brought to her knees.

"You handled the executioner!" Silas shouted, "But what abo-" There were two quick snaps and the pressure on Julis's arm faded as the puppets fell lifelessly. "Wh-What?"

"You're just too slow!" Ethan taunted.

"H-How am I supposed to get a stupid brat like you?"

"Gotta go fast!" Ethan quickly answered before jumping up two floors. They flew through a hole and he landed lightly, despite carrying her weight with his.

"What are you doing?" Julis gritted out when they landed on her injured leg.

"Why, helping you of course. You look like you'll need it."

"B-" Julis started to protest, but stuttered at Ethan's smile. Despite seeing it often, she was entranced by the cheerful, innocent smile.

"Hey, I found out what's up with you worrying about me. This. Silas contacted you, although you probably didn't know it was him at the time, and told you that I would be hit next if you didn't handle the situation, something along those lines. Isn't it." Ethan finished with a statement rather than asking and Julis turned her head away, not meeting his eyes.

Turning her head gently, he spoke firmly, "I'm glad you see me as someone to care for; you throw your life in front of the things you want to protect. In that case, who will protect you? I can handle myself. I was taught so, Julis. This is your problem, but don't handle it yourself. I can help."

She looked at the floor and Ethan continued, "You know...the final part of my training from the academy is to find a purpose. That's why we graduate. It wasn't because they are ready for anything and everything, it was because they aren't done."

"Wait...what do you me-" The floor beneath them rumbled and a giant puppet smashed through the floor.

"Ah, are you done chatting, Mr. Ethan Sakamoto? I see why you were the best of your age group. But I won't die to you! You're only using me to save your own skin!" Julis didn't understand a word and tried to process them. "Now that you lost your element of surprise, how well will you do?"

"Silas...only you try using surprise as a tactic," Ethan grinned wickedly, "Besides...It turns out I was right all along when I assumed. You were the person attacking everyone. Now, prepare to pay for everything and you'll get your retribution you deserve."

"Hmph, a bit cocky. How about you handle a hundred of my puppets?" The puppets readied their weapons and stepped forward. "If they can handle Page Ones with ease, how about you?!"

Ethan only smiled calmly when Silas snapped his fingers and threw kunai at the lanky man. A puppet knocked it away and deflected two more with ease. They all attacked simultaneously right afterward as one machine, but Ethan saw that something seemed off.

"Hmm," Ethan hummed, "I wonder what."

"P-pay attention!" Julis cried and gasped when a puppet jumped them. Then it was gone. Julis blinked once then shut her eyes tightly before opening them slowly. They were unharmed and meters away from the army, a feat impossible by anyone. "A-Ayato...how?"

"Worry about that later, princess," Ethan replied and activated a glowing, purple Lux, "Let me handle all this before I handle your questions." There was a cry of frustration and the sound of fingers snapping before the puppets moved, creating a giant, yawning void of certain death. Julis widened her eyes when Ethan took a step, ready to warn him not to be so reckless but faster than she could blink, there was a hum, the blowing of wind, and they were at another spot of the parking garage.

Specifically, behind Silas, who was staring at the utter destruction of his puppets in disbelief. "So, since I guess I'm out of your league...How about I take my time this round? Round three, bring it on," Ethan smiled slowly and Julis saw his calm, calculating eyes and sly smile.

"Y-you! I'll go all-out this time around!" Puppets swarmed them and Julis tensed, only to tense more at Ethan's reassuring squeeze. He noticed it and smiled apologetically.

"Puppets and more puppets. I'd rather face giants and Dantes or Stregas," Ethan sighed.

"You can't mock me like that! These are the best I have! Get ready to be demolished!" Ethan sighed at his cackling and nimbly dodged each attack, no matter how well executed the puppet teamwork was. Julis watched from his arms in awe as he merely looked and watched slowly before shifting to the next puppet and twitch his mouth as he suppressed smiles each time.

"Best...eh?" He mumbled barely loud enough for Julis to hear. During the whole time, Julis put together his abilities and she was astonished at how this boy, who had only fought twice in front of her, showed abilities far better than her. "Yes...yes. Best...but you aren't the best if you can't handle it?"

He ducked behind a column and laughed, causing a pause in the assault, "Your Merciless Army...it is intimidating! But...I've finally figured out why we aren't dead yet." Everything stopped and Julis blinked as Ethan smirked.

"I see that you can only control up to sixteen pieces. Up to six types too! Doesn't it seem like chess? But then again...you view yourself as the superior, the master. You see yourself as the chess player. That's why you made this plan. That's why you think you'll be safe! Back on topic. You can control up to sixteen puppets and up to six types. That isn't too bothersome for me, as the other eighty-four only make simple movements while you move those others. If I was controlling on the other hand...haha! Say if we swapped positions, you'd be dead! Shame it's like this and I'm not dead. But I guess it because you aren't skilled enough and have no strategy! HA!"

There was a scream of frustration and Ethan only chuckled. He dove aside when the column exploded to a brute's attack and he caught something as it fell. Julis saw that it was a kunai and Ethan threw said kunai beneath waist level and at the direction of Silas. As it flew, Julis caught a flash of a tan-colored tag with markings written all over it. But it clattered rather uselessly, "Ayato...?"

"Don't worry about it, Julis," Ethan smiled and Julis immediately went silent. He made short work of the puppets, speaking as he attacked each squad of puppets calmly and methodically. Moving at speeds faster than Silas can comprehend. "You said I am the best. Yes, you can say that. But you are weak in general. You are simply meant to be used by whoever! To be thrown away like the useless garbage you are!"

"I-Impossible..." Silas stared at the puppets that now lay in piles of junk.

"Quite possible, actually. This, this is the Ser-Veresta. A very powerful Ogre Lux that has no normal materials to counter its heated blade, the only other objects are items of Ogre Lux quality. Next, there's me, the best of the best of my generation of...you know who. The top. La crème de la crème."

Silas started to back up and Ethan set down Julis to walk up slowly to Silas. He started to run and climb onto the peak of the pile of discarded puppet parts. Ethan chuckled demonically and purposely took his time as the villain's cold sweat fell onto the parking garage floor. Suddenly, the fearful face turned into one of triumph and the floor above Ethan fell down.

Julis cried out as the first of the chunks kicked up dust and Silas cackled, "KEKEKE! That arrogant brat thinks he is the best! But he just died! Now, pretty, pretty princess! Now it's your turn~"

She stood but tears welled in her eyes as her leg throbbed and a puppet appeared in front of her, reaching for her as its eyes gleamed darkly. Her hand went for Aspera Spina at her side but at that moment, the puppet lurched forward and collapsed sideways.

Julis heard a slow clap and struggled to look over the useless puppet, enough to see the figure of a familiar teen. "Bravo. That could have-NO! Actually would have killed anyone and everyone. Nice job! Shame that I knew you'd do that. This is now checkmate. Just give me a moment to handle your queen~"

Silas widened his eyes and there was only a blur of white when tremendous crunches were heard. Something skidded to a stop in front of Julis, who coughed while waving away the dust rising in front of her. She saw Ethan patting himself while spinning three kunai on his fingers and looking up rather apathetically as Silas floated up on a torso of a puppet. That was when she looked at his fist and saw it dripped blood. He noticed the wound too. "Don't worry. Just never punched something that hard before. Split my knuckles. Now I think we're done. He got away."

"Actually," Julis laughed, "How about my turn to do something?"

"Ho?"

"Bloom! Strelitzia!" Particles of fire flowed behind her back and formed into wings, "Hang on, Ayato! Let's fly!"

Ethan nodded consent and she took off quickly and Ethan held out a hand, a familiar blue ball started to form and spin wildly in his hand, "Silas! I have a present~"

The teen turned and Julis smiled grimly when she saw the tears streaming down his face, "No! Leave me alo-"

"Rasengan!" The explosion rocked Julis and she forced herself to concentrate more to stay afloat. She looked up and saw Silas spinning high into the sky before losing altitude and start falling.

"Yo...ve...isi...se, Yab..ki." Julis heard him mutter and shook him, "Nothing! I was muttering to myself. After all this, I think a small punishment from the school isn't going to be a lot." Julis nodded and she commented about the scenery. He agreed that it was a nice view and sighed as he leaned back, asking for permission before doing so. After a small hesitation, Julis agreed and her quick reply made Ethan raise an eyebrow.

"Ayato-kun."

"Hmm?" He raised his head.

"Just...who are you? You seem too skilled to be an average Genestella. Actually, you're more powerful than an average Dante and just by watching you fight, you can easy set the bar for the Page Ones."

"Heh. Too revealing, aren't I?"

"And...I think I found out your speed too," Julis narrowed her eyes, "It's the kunai. You aren't actually fast, but you utilize a tag on them to move quickly."

He let out a boisterous laugh and held his stomach for a few moments, before he calmed down and looked over his shoulder, "Well, part right. I'm already naturally fast and these are used simply for teleportation. Don't look down upon my speed. If you do, I'll make sure our next battle won't be as easy. I'll be taking things seriously and make sure you'll be miserable."

Julis paled slightly, "I-I see."

"Sorry about the threat. But, let's just say I can do all this because I've had quite a bit of training."

"I...I have so many questions to ask," Julis breathed, "May I see the kunai?"

He held up his hand, and Julis inspected the tool in the setting sun's light. "How does it work?"

"Trade secret~" Ethan yawned and quickly fell asleep in her arms. Julis shook him once, then twice worriedly.

"Ayato. Ayato!"

* * *

 **[File sent to the compilation of 'Pre-Scism' courtesy of JTR]**

 **[Loading...]**

 **[Asterisk, October 27, 2239 - 19:40]**

The blonde man standing at the tallest building watched the blue ball slam into a figure midair. He shifted slightly at movement behind him, "Hello, brother."

"How is he?"

"Great, just as usual."

"See Lucas? I told you he'd be perfect. He's a child prodigy. Just like his ancestor."

The first man laughed, "Yeah, yeah. Minato Namikazi. I got it, I got it. Also, I just got wind that you wanted the Diva dead."

There was a sound of hand hitting face, "Mistake on my part. I forgot that she is the student president. We were supposed to capture her instead."

"Yes...yes we are. Julis, on the other hand..."

"Fair game..."

"Mason."

Mason turned from the bight red light that spiraled down, "Yes?"

"How are the other presidents?"

In the shadows, a smirk grew, "They seem to be oblivious. Well...except you-know-who." Lucas nodded gravely. "Spectre is going to pick up Silas. I'll hand him over to you. Do what you want with him."

"Of course. We need to use him to remind the others that those taken prisoners have no choice but to serve us to their death. They need to remember their only purpose. Shame we can't do what the Enterprise does...Having human robot slaves would work like a charm."

"Heh..."

* * *

 **[File added to the compilation courtesy of Spectre]**

 **[Loading...]**

 **[Asterisk, street unknown]**

 **[September 27th, 2239 19:47]**

Just as their conversation ended, Silas fell to the ground motionless, "I can't believe that you really underestimated these kiddos. Shame on you."

A voice sounded frustrated as he spoke, "Come on, don't tell me you killed another target. Jeez, how am I supposed to help interrogate if you keep this up!"

"Arara~ He's not dead. Just go toss him into the Punishment Room and go clean up the mess he made. You Shadow Stars are all proficient at that."

"Of course, leave it to me!" The boy nodded while chuckling and the leaned against the wall, "Just out of curiosity, why didn't you go with them?"

"I have my own responsibilities, you know."

"Heh. Are you sure about that?"

The blonde woman raised an eyebrow, "Were you asked to investigate me from your superiors, Yabuki Eishirou-kun?"

"Of course not! Just asked to get him, that's all. As I said, only curiosity, Claudia."

She sighed and started to walk away, "I want to make a move on him, I really do. But...I feel as if there's another person who will capture his heart. I don't want my efforts to be in vain. I especially don't want my heart broken."

When she disappeared into the darkness, Yabuki slowly smiled, "Ethan...I think you have Claudia ready to take down. You seem to be getting better at handling women now. Good thing. Julis, Claudia, and Sylvia are the final targets before Konoha can rise again."

Yabuki made a chopping motion, "With Juli dead then Claud and Sylv hostage..." He stretch, "Ahh, it'll be great!"

* * *

 **[Loading...]**

 **[Queenvail, September 27, 2239 - 19:44]**

 **[Please note this originated from a third-party source. The legitimacy is still in question.]**

A specific girl with purple hair, that was looking over the files for another specific person, sneezed. She sniffed and sat up straighter, sighing as she ran her finger over the contents of the pages for the next of many times. Despite the info being from the Benetnasch, there was a lack of information about the person she wanted to know about.

"I guess I'll have to talk to him directly then. I'm just afraid that I'll mess up, being so nervous around him," the girl sat back in her chair and placed her hands on her forehead, bending it over the top, "I've never felt this way. Is this called falling in love?"

"I feel so alive!"

Sylvia rubbed her temples, Was thinking about him making me hear him when I'm not supposed to? She sighed and looked out the window to see a flash of white disappear over the edge of a building.

Sylvia rubbed her eyes and stood up. She wasn't hallucinating at all, Why is he here?

[Returning to previous file...]

Yabuki waited until Claudia didn't return and picked up the body of Silas Norman. "Well, time to hand him over to boss. Besides...if he is apprehended by the Shadow Stars...I'm sure Silas will spill the beans. I don't want that."

Pulling up a screen, he dialed a number.

[Yeah?]

"I got Silas. Where do I drop him off?"

[He dead yet?]

"No, not yet."

[Good, good. Go to the rendezvous and give him to me. JTR will make sure he dies slowly and painfully to make an example. No people who must give their lives for us can walk out of line.]

Yabuki nodded and started off, whistling cheerfully as he reached a fountain at the middle of the park. "That tune, where have you heard it?"

"Oh, just an academy from long ago," Yabuki dropped the body on the floor and the man picked it up, "There's your package, Mason."

"Thanks. Hey, if..." the man looked around and stopped, reaching for his waist and Yabuki also readied for a fight. Only when he relaxed did Yabuki slowly lower his arm. "Something feels off. I'll make it quick. You are assigned the mission too. If Ethan doesn't handle them, you do so. Also, I missed a fact, try to capture the student president."

"Roger. I'll keep an eye on her. Just to clarify, I have the green light to kill her if she finds out, right?"

The man picked up Silas and started to move quickly away, "Of course, now get moving. You have all resources for the mission."

* * *

 **[Returning to original video...]**

 **[Now playing...]**

Ethan slowly opened his eyes, "Whew, so much better now!"

He jumped up and then realized the chilly wind, "Sit down, Ayato! You need the rest."

Ethan turned around, "I'm good. I also have been noted to recover pretty quickly."

He quickly walked to the edge of the building, pumping his fist while shouting, "I FEEL SO ALIVE!"

"Pipe down...will you?" Julis smiled as he turned.

"Oi, Julis." Julis tensed at his sudden serious tone, "I'm wondering, may I join you for the Phoenix Festa?"

She blinked at his question, "Where'd you hear that?"

"Bah, you're literally the only thing the school talks about. Of course I would hear."

"Well..."

"I don't care what your purpose is, Julis. But I said I'll help you. How can I do that if you lose? Unless you already have a partner?"

She blushed, "Well...Actually, no. I was waiting for the right person first."

"How about me? Honestly, I don't know your requirements, but I should fit, shouldn't I?"

Julis stifled a laugh then burst out laughing for a quick moment, "Really, I don't know what's with you. I guess you will fit my requirements."

Ethan gave a hopeful look and Julis nodded timidly. "Yeah! Let's go! Remember. I'm supposed to always watch you back, right? I'll be there to help you."

Julud watched him before turning red, "D-don't say things like that! Do you know how embarrassing it is?"

Ethan scratched his head, "Really? Oh...Uh then let's forget that." He bowed low in front of her, "I appreciate that you accepted me for the Festa."

"Can we talk more about this later? It's not like I don't want you as my partner, but we will be facing very tough opponents in the Festas."

Ethan gave a cheerful nod and then saw Claudia come into view, "You two seem to be doing well. Everything's alright then?"

"Everything is! Uh, if you came to pick us up, you two can go on ahead, I want to just watch the streets and buildings a bit...if you guys don't mind?"

"Not at all."

"Of course not. Take care."

"Thanks," Ethan heard them walk away and leaned back, hearing a new step of footprints, "H-" He suddenly held back the words. It wasn't a man's footsteps, it was a young girl's. "Sylvia?"

"So you are here!"

"What are you doing here?"

Sylvia smiled, "I could be asking the same to you."

"Mind sitting down? Enjoy the city view?" Sylvia did so and Ethan gave a moment of thought before asking a question to break the silence.

"So, why are you here?"

"Eh. Long story. Had to chase a cat on the rooftops that stole a handbag. I...lost sight of it."

"Ah," she giggled, "So now you must return with the bad news?"

"Yup!" Ethan sighed, not noticing her interest in the conjured story, "Quite troublesome. Did you come here to find me?"

As he noticed a tinge of red, Sylvia answered while turning away, "I thought I saw you up here, so I came to investigate."

Ethan smiled and nudged her, "So if you thought it was someone else other than me, would you have spend that time and energy climbing up here?"

Her blush became more noticeable now, "O-of course I would! Regardless of who it isn't normal to find a person standing up here!"

"I see, huh."

"You don't believe me," Sylvia pouted and Ethan looked at her from the side. He shrugged and leaned back onto his hands. "You do know this is in Queenvail, don't you?"

Sylvia tried to observe him very subtly, afraid of his comments if he noticed. After a moment of looking at his unseeing eyes, she realized he was spacing out into his own world, which explained the lack of an answer.

Only then did she sit up and look at him more carefully. She saw his calculating grey eyes, still seemingly as sharp as before, expressionless mouth slightly opened, his thin arms that was tense, as if ready to move at any moment. Glancing at his legs that were hanging off the edge of the building, she noticed the same tenseness in those limbs.

She shifted to his shoulders and chest, seeing both rising and falling steadily with his thoughts that ran wherever they are running. She moved her gaze upwards to his ruffled hair, flying in different places just like the day they had first met.

Sylvia hesitantly moved her hand towards a prominent clump of cowlick and started to push it down. The moment her hand moved his hair, Ethan's arm shot forward and grabbed hers, his other hand shooting for her throat and once his empty look in his eyes faded, he widened them, and quickly let go, "Sorry, sorry. Did I hurt you at all?"

Sylvia shook her head, "No. Though you did surprise me."

He raised an eyebrow, "Just surprise?"

"Well...am I supposed to feel something else?" Sylvia drew her hand back while asking the question.

"Dunno. I was expecting...fear or something of that sort," he nervously scratched his head.

Sylvia returned a smile and patted down the offending clump of hair, "Well...I guess I should have, considering we're so high up."

She looked down at the street with the cars bustling down below and the many pedestrians walking down the sidewalk. Ethan placed his hand on hers when they watched each other's eyes for a moment, staring at their reflections on the other's eyes. However, when Ethan glanced away, Sylvia thought she saw a look of satisfaction.

"Ayato?"

"Please," he laughed, "You know, that's not my real name."

Sylvia reeled back, "It's not?"

At that moment he caught himself, Sylvia saw shock and fear running in his eyes. Disbelief. Self-reprimanding. Anger. It was all she saw in his eyes. It only said, Stupid, stupid, stupid.

When he closed them, he stood still for a uncomfortable moment then opened them, "No, my name is Ethan Sakamoto."

"But..." Sylvia tilted her head with her lip pursed, "Why a fake name?"

"It's just to keep people from...from I guess start to look for me if I become famous. I suppose. That's why you choose look different normally, don't you?"

Sylvia shifted from foot to foot, "Yes. I guess so. Is there anything else...Anything that I may have to know?"

She saw the slight hesitation in his eyes, "Well, that's really it. There's personal things I would like to share. But I have nobody. No parents, no siblings. Just me."

Sylvia's smile faded, "E-Aya-I don't know what to call you. But...is that really true?"

His expression grew grim for just a small moment that it made Sylvia doubt she saw it at all. He glanced at the floor and brushed his hair back, "Yes, yes it is. You can call me whatever you like. It won't matter in the end..."

"The...end?"

His eyes were especially sad this moment and Sylvia reached up, brushing his cheek. "...Nothing. Nothing at all. I just feel as if we won't be together all the time. We probably won't."

"What makes you say that?" Sylvia asked worriedly.

"...First, there's your fame. Then, there's also the different academies. You're busy all the time, aren't you? Even if there's the nonexistent chance of me being with you, what's the chance then of us staying together? What will the academies say?"

"Ethan," Sylvia said quietly and he looked up slightly, "I won't mind if we won't spend time together if we do get together. It's not like that being with you will kill me, right?"

Then she saw the first tear fall and his sob. "Sylvie. Can you leave me for the rest of the night?"

"E-"

He looked up, adamantly erasing his sadness, "Please."

Sylvie bit her lip then nodded, walking back until she went over the edge and onto the fire escape, staying low for a moment before looking back up. She saw him looking up at the sky before bringing up a screen and speaking into it.

She couldn't hear his words, but heard the multiple pauses and his controlled voice. After a moment of silence, she looked up higher and ducked out of view when she saw him moving quickly on the rooftop, Sylvia quickly jumped down and hid in the shadows just as she heard him land on the floor. She saw him shove his hands in his jacket take a deep breath, "Glad there was a miscommunication...Now, if only I took back what I said..."

* * *

 **Minutes ago:**

Ethan quickly wiped the traces of tears and cleared his throat. He looked around for a moment then nodded, bringing up a call, "Oi, Lucas."

[Hmm? You don't contact me alot. It's urgent then.]

"Yes...I think I may have to kill her now." Ethan explained what had happened between him and Sylvia earlier, but got no response.

"Sir?" Ethan frowned at the silence from the other side. He was unsure if it was good or bad. However, he got his answer shortly afterwards.

[Don't need to worry. We aren't killing any of the presidents. We just need them captured. They can know about Konoha, as they will find out sooner or later, pretty much. Besides, at that point, they won't be able to do anything. It's just the problem of her knowing your name...]

"Really? I don't need to worry?"

[You think I'd be joking? We'll keep tabs on her. All the presidents we have encountered with are troublesome. If you've already gotten her to like you, go ahead and send the signal. There's always Operation G in case you want to see if she would protect you.]

"Copy. Thank you," Ethan nodded to himself then ended the call, turning around then jumping off the building. Taking a breath, he looked up. Suddenly, he felt an uneasy presence, but shrugged it off when he turned to nothing but a cat mewing and an inspection of the alley brought up nothing.

Looking at the sky again, he closed them and felt a shift in the ground beneath him. He opened them slowly turned to the bed before jumping and landing on his back, facing the ceiling. He still felt the uneasy shiver until he fell asleep.

Back at the alley, a certain girl breathed a sigh of relief when the teen disappeared from the area and dropped from the fire escape.

* * *

 **Morning:**

The first thing Ethan woke up to was a call. It wasn't from his boss. Well, the boss for this mission, but one with an even higher position that he knew pretty well.

"Hideki?"

[Glad you got the message. I gotta make this quick, Damien's gathering a meeting.]

"Go ahead."

[Of course you know Toudou Kirin, right? She's in danger. It seems her true uncle is killed and now replaced by an outsider. You'll need to watch her and keep her safe. He's mimicked the original so perfectly, it took Damien to notice a difference.]

"That impressive?"

[Yes, I have to go now. Protect her. Sorry we sent you. I'll update you when I have time.]

"Don't worry about that. Honestly, I'm honored to have the position as a leader of my own group. I don't mind being sent out to do the work. I am the only capable person currently. Both Issei and Vali are a bit too aggressive and Yabuki still needs to act like a Shadow Star...I'll go now." He ended the call and Ethan immediately went to dress into his uniform, rushing out into the hallway.

What about Kirin? Yes, she's the Rank One of Seidoukan. But more importantly, she's also an operator of the Konoha Resurrection System. Both knew each other by reputation mostly, until they met on the training grounds in Konoha. That duel had ended in a tie, with both students showing a fair amount of respect for one another and after a while, Ethan had requested that Kirin become his subordinate and the girl had agreed when presented the position.

She served as a second-in-command to Ethan in the 'Younglings,' the only group that held no specific task, given what would be called 'odd-jobs.' While Ethan was sent from academy to academy, Yabuki as the Shadow Star Shinobi spy, Kirin was to collect the data of students who have dueled and their capabilities in battle, sending them to Hideki, one of Damien's right-hand men, and he in turn, handed them to Damien. However, because she was so busy in Seidoukan, she rarely spoke to Ethan. He didn't blame her for anything and respected the upper commands to keep her identity secret.

Now it was time to finally meet Kirin again. As Ethan ran, he hesitated, was he supposed to protect or warn? What was the meaning of what Lucas said? He couldn't watch over Kirin everyday, even if both Lucas and he knew that Kirin could take care of herself.

[Hello?]

"Toudou-senpai."

[Haah? Namikazi-senpai? You're here too?]

"Can we talk?" Ethan ran down the hallway as he talked, not noticing footsteps coming from the left at the intersection.

[I'm sorry, not right now. I ha-]

When he reached the intersection, Ethan felt someone collide into him and he fell over, rubbing his ribs, "Ow..."

[Ow...]

"I'm so sorr-Namikazi-senpai!"

[I'm so sorr-Namikazi-senpai!]

Ethan glanced up at the silver-haired girl that sat on top of him and laughing, ended the call, "Hey, Toudou-senpai."

"Hai! I'm actually glad we bumped into each other! We rarely contact each other at all," Kirin gave a strange look, "Ah, as in, the operators in Konoha. But I believe we don't contact each other often anyway."

"Right," Ethan laughed, "How's it going today?"

"Ah. Pretty well. Just getting ready to train right now. Sadly, after I was adopted, I couldn't go through the usual Konoha training anymore."

"Well, the Toudou techniques aren't bad either, right?"

Kirin gave a cheerful nod, "Right! In fact, it has helped me just as much as the Konoha's lessons."

"Ah, Kirin!" Ethan's face grew serious and Kirin immediately snapped to attention, "About your uncle..."

"Haah? What about him?"

Ethan lowered his voice, "Watch your back around him. I want you to be extremely careful around him."

Kirin nodded and gave a smile, "Hai. I haven't had contact from you nor Hideki-san, but I know both of you have your reasons. Thank you."

"No problem. In fact, I think he's being careful. I was contacted by Lucas and it was about you. So I think Hideki wanted the message passed on," Ethan smiled, "Finally..."

"Yes?" Kirin tilted her head, "You seem...strange."

"Can you...get off me? We've been like this for so long it feels more than awkward." When they fell, Ethan had landed with his back on the floor and Kirin lay on his chest. She blushed vividly and stood, unfortunately placing her heel right between his legs and stepping as she got up. He sat up quickly grabbing the area and doubling over. "Goddamn..."

"I-I'm so sorry, Namikazi-senpai!"

Ethan grunted in pain and then gave a wan smile, "I'm...good. Don't...worry about...me."

"H-hai!"

Ethan watched as Kirin ran up to her 'uncle' who had his hands on his hips. As she bowed and tried to apologize, he slapped her, the sound ringing across the hallway. Ethan raised and eyebrow and took a step back shaking his head as he heard him bellow a shout, but immediately whipped his head back towards the man and sprinted forward with all his might.

Ethan intercepted the imposter and grabbed the arm that wielded a stiletto, "What do you think you're doing?"

As quickly as the knife had appeared, it vanished, "This is a family business. Leave as it is none of yours."

"But," Ethan shot back, feigning ignorance to the knife, "A family member isn't supposed to harm another, are they? Or are you not one?"

Ethan smirked inwardly at the small sign of fear before it was replaced by anger, "You dare question my authority? Who are you to her then?"

"Oh, a close friend. We sparred several times before you came. Now...she trains alone and I don't think you'll do a better job than me."

The man flared, "You dare look down upon the techniques of the Toudou family?"

"Definitely not," Ethan raised his hands and Kirin saw his eyes glint, "But I expected that all true members of the Toudou family to practice the techniques. Whether human or Genestella."

"Well, to let you know, you monsters are much more capable than learning this than a human. Let me ask, who are you?"

"E-eh...Amagiri Ayato."

The man was silent, standing still then bringing up a screen holding the rankings of the students. He scrolled through several pages and scoffed when Ethan's 'name' had appeared as unranked. "You aren't even on th-Oh?"

The man was staring at the info of the Ser-Veresta, watching it for a moment before turning his head towards Ethan, eyes narrowing slightly. They stared each other down for a moment then the man spoke, "What do you want me to do?"

"Don't harm Kirin. I want you to back off." The man showed realization and gritted his teeth, his eyes saying, You know.

"Fine. If you win the duel, then I will leave her alone. Is that a deal?"

Ethan stepped back and held out the hilt of Ser-Veresta.

* * *

 **[Loading...]**

 **[File legitimacy unknown, take caution in sharing]**

Sylvia sighed as she tapped a few more keys and frowned at the screen.

She had made a few hours of progress, but went nowhere. Sylvia took a deep breath and let it out frustratedly, tapping it lazily until she sat up, breaking through the wall that had been set up.

When 'Ayato Amagiri' had always led to a dead-end, she had decided to search using-what he had called-his true name. Finding only the basic information that was put up by the Integrated Enterprise Foundation, she decided to dig deeper, reaching more dead-ends until she found an impassible wall.

Sylvia wasn't deterred, after successfully breaking through, she saw ineligible strings of letters and numbers gather until it read, "Welcome, operative. Konoha files ready for receiving". Sylvia was forced to download one file and immediately feared a corruption. However, seeing the wall had become solid again, she wondered why there was so much protection.

Slowly moving her finger towards the file, she hesitated.

She bit her lip and accessed the folder. The first read, "Success(Closed_Open for Details) - Elimination of Kuroyukihime."

Then the next, "Success(Closed_Open for Details) - Elimination of Chelsea."

Then the next ones, "Success...Emilia, Success...Cornellia, Success...Tsubaki, Konoha Overview(Reminder), Lists of Members, Files and Comments on the Training of Operator Namikazi..."

Skipping the next twenty files, she found one at the bottom with, "Unfinished(Open_Update on Details) - Elimination of the Diva

There was only one person who could be "the Diva," Sylvia stared at the screen. She tapped the file and the pages loaded:

Sylvia Lyyneheym: Sex - Female, Age - 16, DOB: October 1, 2222

She widened her eyes at the rest, and her tears welled as she continued reading. She brought up a hand to call Ethan then saw the final reports written in "Comments:"

As of December 3, 2239, the progress is notable and quicker than previous targets. Outlook is good, however, the operator has reported a small slip on his part and has already informed the command. Original mission is still to be carried, but when taken prisoner, careful measures may be taken if Operator Namikazi opens up more to the Diva. End of comment."

"This...has to be a joke," Sylvia muttered, "It must be."

Her worries were slightly lifted when she saw that there were little records on Konoha and that it was taken down decades ago, making it impossible for Ethan to be the one mentioned. But she was troubled by the genuinity of the file.

He's just so...different than the man written here. It shouldn't be him...right? But...nobody else has ever approached me recently. Not only that...Ethan did say his name wasn't Ayato, which could be the slip.

* * *

 **[Loading...File is donated from One]**

 **[Playing now...]**

 **[Location: Unknown]**

One name was shouted in the moderately lit room, "Damien!"

The brown-haired man turned to the man sitting on the chair in front of a few screens, "Someone has downloaded the files for Ethan!"

"Hmm," Damien mused, "The Enterprise? Have we been discovered?"

There was silence and only the clicking of keys and mouse. The screen in front of the second man flashing for moments, "No...it's...Queenvail?"

There was an amused chuckle, "Seems as if our Diva is curious, is she not?"

"Yessir. In fact, it was downloaded into her cell directly. Luckily we set that up to track others."

"Are you sure about someone getting that file?"

There was silence and a few taps, "Yes...Our spy in the Benetnasch, Mine, has confirmed it is Sylvia herself. Do we have to eliminate her now?"

"...Nah."

"Sir, are you insane?!" The shock could be heard in the second man's voice.

"Haha, I am not. We will get her. I'm sure that she will question Mr. Sakamoto about this. Luckily we haven't bothered to make a connection to his lineage of the Namikazi family...or Uzumaki I suppose. I am certain we have his operative name as Namikazi. Hideyoshi, hand me that, I'll download a program to keep broadcasting her signal real-time."

The chair creaked slightly as Hideyoshi stood and pushed in the chair and a small clatter as a laptop was picked up. The soft footsteps and posture Hideyoshi gave suggested that even for his field, which required sitting in front of the monitors for hours in a single day, he was just as capable of fighting with Page Ones as the field operators in the Konoha Resurrection System. His boss was no exception.

When the laptop was passed to Damien, he asked, "The file that is downloaded instantly can also record what's done, which allows me to check to see if she is reading, deleting, or copying files, yes?"

Hideyoshi turned at the stop of the keys tapping, "If I recall correctly, yes."

"Thanks. Go get lunch. I'll do the rest." The door opened and closed quietly and when he was finished deleting one specific file and adding a new one, Damien glanced outside the dark windows, surrounded by rock and water, "Soon, very soon, the windows of the academy will finally see sunlight again. The doors will finally open for Konoha for the first time in decades."

There was an alert when the download was complete and a bright green dot appeared in a building at Queenvail. "Now...to copy the files onto a new folder, wipe out the one she has, and have Ethan speed up his move on her...Hmm, if she wasn't a target...I'd actually ask Ethan to become her boyfriend."

Damien let out a boisterous laugh, "Ah, what a shame, what a shame. She's really not a bad girl. None of the presidents are bad. They just have the misfortune to be our enemies."

* * *

 **[Returning to the original file...]**

 **[Now playing...]**

 **[Location: Seidoukan Academy, Asterisk]**

"Bring it on then, Mr. Toudou."

"Oh, no," Kirin's 'uncle' replied, "You aren't fighting me, but Kirin. Kirin!"

"H-hai!"

"If you win, you can show that you are just as good as he says he is. In addition, defeating the Ser-Veresta will boost the quality of your resume greatly."

Her uncle stepped back and Ethan growled. That was when he finally noticed the crowd that was gathered. It was no time to step down now. They most likely overheard his challenge and the request for the duel. "Na-" Kirin caught herself, "Amagiri-senpai, I'm sorry."

"No worries, besides, we should determine the winner from months ago, shouldn't we?" Ethan beamed and Kirin widened her eyes, "No need to worry about me. Go ahead and fight with all your abilities if you'd like!"

* * *

 **Once again, this new scene break thing, give me your opinions, PM, review, I'll take them into consideration. It feels fun, but it may confuse someone or everyone.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Gah, so many points of view from different stories! Confusion and more confusion. Ah, so here's the next chapter for Konoha Rising! Things will pick up quite a but from here!**

* * *

 **[Loading...]**

 **[Date: September 28, 2239 - 12:00]**

 **[Location - Seidoukan]**

Ethan sighed, content with the fight yesterday, although he had lost.

Well, only because he got distracted for one moment. Just a small moment. But it was enough to lose.

He saw Saya walk up to Kirin's uncle and the man bend down to listen for a moment. While Ethan watched, he lost focus for a split second. Enough for Kirin to cut his badge, seeing the opening.

Kirin had seen his troubled look and bowed apologetically when she realized he wasn't completely focused but Ethan stopped her from fully apologizing, blaming himself for being lured by the distraction.

But that raised a question, was Saya in league with the imposter?

He was listening intently and focused on the two of them, along with Saya. To add to that worry, Julus reprimanded him for dueling Kirin as it revealed his capabilities in battle.

Luckily, even if anyone fought him and was careful about his speed, there was no way anyone(outside of HuFeng, but well...we'll see him soon...) could match up to him. If they could...well, Flying Thunder God can handle them.

Ethan shook his head quickly, shaking himself out of his thoughts and saw a girl jogging in front of him through the fog.

Recognizing the flash of silver, "Kirin!"

"!" Kirin gave a surprised expression then smiled, slowing down as Ethan sped up. "Good morning, Namikazi-senpai."

"Geez," Ethan laughed, "Just stop with that."

"Sorry, but I still have a lot to learn from you, so until I can really win, I will keep calling you that!"

Ethan laid his hand on her head, "Fine. How about a quick sprint to the end of this pier?"

"Sure!"

Both quickly pushed off and the steady stomps of jogging sped up to a light, rapid pace. Both agilely running with their toes to allow quick, sudden turns and swerves.

The natural habit saving them as there was a blast flying right at them from the forest.

Both Kirin turned the moment she saw the attack but Ethan, who was farther ahead, pushed off with his feet and barely cleared the burst of energy.

"...You avoided it," spoke a stoic voice.

"Ah, I see now. You _are_ with them, Saya."

The cyan-haired girl smirked and twirled a pistol in each hand, both aiming right at the hearts of Ethan and Kirin, eyes watching them both sharply. Ready to move if needed. Ethan started to raise his hands to his head but Saya fired a shot in his direction, "Keep your hands out to the side. I know about your kunai and the ability to wield them in your teeth."

Ethan spread his arms and Kirin dashed to the side while Ethan dropped to the floor, both avoiding the shots fired. The moment Ethan landed he rolled as multiple swords landed on the area he was initially on.

"You're just as good as the boss said," spoke a calm voice.

Kirin turned to the newcomer, "Uncle?"

The man put his hands up to his face and removed a mask, the dark hair and mustache vanishing, the sharp features fading and face growing younger, "No, not your uncle. I eliminated the exploiting brat a while ago. I'm generally surprised that you haven't noticed, Kirin."

Kirin widened her eyes then glared, "That's why he turned so abusive."

"Yes...because it isn't him, but I, Kazuto Haruyuki." Saya nodded and raised one arm, pistol pointed, "I suppose the two of you remember me."

"We couldn't forget a traitor," Ethan growled, "Of course, being the 'Prince of Swords' makes it all the more unforgettable."

Saya fired two quick blasts and both operatives dodged with ease. Kirin drew Senbakiri but was pulled back by Ethan just in time to save her from being chopped into ribbons, the offending swords levitating mockingly.

Ethan threw a kunai and Saya immediately turned to it and fired as Kazuto met Kirin's charge, both swords clanging in the morning air. Ethan spun to avoid the energy released from the Lux and heard a warning, "Namikazi-senp-"

Ethan felt something enter his shoulder and he coughed in pain. Due to Saya's accurate shot, the kunai was pushed back into his direction, sinking into him.

Ethan held the kunai facing downwards and rushed Saya in the blink of an eye. Saya simply watched each movement carefully and fired one shot, meant to hit Ethan if he were to continue running.

Ethan stopped and moved in the opposite direction, then after allowing the shot to fly by him, ran at Saya again.

He threw one kunai up into the air, two at Saya's side, one at her, and dropped one final one, only to be hit in the chest by a bullet and sent back, landing on the floor for a second before disappearing in a puff.

Saya dodged left when she felt Ethan above her, barely avoiding the Rasengan that he created. As she raised a arm, Saya leaned back to avoid a quick slash aimed at her face and fired.

Ethan's head snapped back but Saya whipped around and blocked a strike with her arm when Ethan appeared behind her, the first bursting into a cloud of smoke. She fired and once again it was another clone Ethan had summoned.

Erhan finally arrived and slashed with a kunai, which Saya parried with her pistol, sending sparks flying. She fired a shot but he ducked when he saw the finger twitch. When he fell out of sight, Saya eliminated the three clones that were trying to flank her.

"I guess I'll have to go all out."

There was a bright flash of light, "Type-41 Lux, Twin Particle Cannons, Waldenholt!"

Saya was suddenly clad in a jumpsuit with neon accents and held guns on both hands.

Kazuto retreated as Saya calmly stated, "Burst."

Ethan tackled Kirin at a sprint and took them to safety as the ground beneath them tore apart. When they landed, Kirin smiled shyly as she knelt on top of him and quickly pulled him up.

They leapt to the side as another blast destroyed the area they stood on. This time, the ground they landed at was much weaker and it crumbled beneath their feet. Ethan gave a surprised shout when the concrete gave way and he tucked himself in before landing into the water.

When he came up, he dragged Kirin out as she sputtered out water and he gripped her hand. She nodded and gave him a quick peck as Kirin floated down and Kazuto landed with a flutter of his coat. "Ready."

"Go!" Finished Ethan and he charged Kazuto as Kirin ran at the left gun of Saya. She leapt up and planted her feet onto the gun as Saya missed. When landing, she used the barrel as leverage and held onto it with her hands as she kicked at Saya.

The same moment Ethan threw a kunai at Kazuto, who dodged it and ran at Ethan, dual swords glinting. Ethan blinked and teleported to the kunai when it was passing the tip of Kazuto's blade and then swapped positions with Kirin, sending her to the kunai as he landed on the seal Kirin placed on the barrel as she distracted Saya.

Both enemies were taken off-guard and at the same time as Ethan sunk a kunai into Saya's chest, Kirin ran her katana into Kazuto's heart.

While Kazuto died instantly, Saya crumbled in Ethan's arms, her guns and suit dissipating, "So...I guess...we're...taken down."

" _All?"_

Saya gave a grim look, "I am the leader, and Kazuto was the only other left."

Ethan nodded, "You all did well though. Does the Enterprise know that you're the last two?"

"No..." Saya gave a tight smile, "You...all took us...out quicker than...we thought."

"I know that we must be enemies...but I'm sorry, Saya. And also apologize to all the members that were made to hunt us down. It was for our survival."

Saya blinked slowly, "Under...standable...All very...strong."

Ethan smirked, "Thanks. Finally, sorry about your father. If I didn't kill him, we _could_ have been allies, right?"

Saya gave a faraway look, "Maybe...At least...I'll see him again." Her eyes glazed over and she stopped breathing. Ethan closed her eyes and carried her over to where Kirin was.

"Shall we request a burial for them?"

Kirin giggled, "I would ask. They gave a good fight and deserve it, even if Kazuto turned his back on us."

"We could ask!" Kirin and Ethan turned to see a boy in a green hoodie and a girl in a black dress emerge from the shadows, "Akame and I can bring them back and ask Damien. Nice fight."

Akame nodded agreement, "Now that the Enterprise's only group that is on par with us is gone, we have less to worry about. We're waiting for your mission now, boss."

Ethan saluted as Akame and Yabuki picked up the bodies, "Count on me. Except it won't be _too_ soon. Yabuki, you need to be able to do your part."

He turned, confused then smiled and gave a curt nod, "Right. You also have Sylvie?"

"Date's upcoming weekend. The blossom park."

* * *

 **[Location: Asterisk]**

 **[Date: September 30, 2239 - 12:00]**

 **[Operator: Namikazi]**

Sylvia spun in the midst of the falling petals, the Sakura Park the one mysterious place in all of Asterisk, where the flowers grew and petals fell, no matter the time of the year. "It wasn't like this yesterday! How'd you know?"

Ethan laughed, "Lucky guess. It's nice, right?"

"It's beautiful!" Sylvia cried. He wrapped an arm around her, to which she went with and wrapped hers around him. They heard movement behind them and turned to see Yabuki and Claudia. "Huh, so you two are here too?"

"Arara~ You didn't plan out this double date did you, Eishirou-kun?" Claudia giggled, making Yabuki raise an eyebrow to Ethan who shrugged.

"Yeah, it was planned to be honest," Yabuki admitted. Sylvia seemed to find the idea charming and Claudia blushed at the meaning Yabuki implied. "Ayato and I knew each other for a long time, so we thought this would prove successful."

"Ah," Claudia grinned, "And I thought it was coincidental!"

Ethan shook his head, "No, no coincidence. Also we wanted to pull this off before we leave."

Sylvia looked up at Ethan, "Leave? Asterisk? Why?"

"No," Ethan replied at a squawk of a radio in his ear, "Leave you." Sylvia didn't comprehend his meaning before she lost consciousness and slumped into his chest. Claudia had sensed something wrong at that moment and barely avoided a stab from a syringe from Yabuki.

"Whoops," Yabuki scratched his head with his free hand once he jumped back.

Ethan picked up the motionless Sylvia and faced Claudia, "Ms. Enfield, I would kindly ask just this once to not make things difficult and let us get our mission done."

When she drew Pan-Dora, Yabuki sighed and Ethan showed contempt, "Then it's the futile, hard way. Fine. Yabuki."

"Of course, sir," Yabuki threw a kunai which Claudia pivoted to avoid, allowing Yabuki to rush to her position faster than she could see and swept her off her feet. As she was falling, she caught herself on a hand and flips into the air, slashing at Yabuki with the dual swords as he approached. She looked around for Ethan and didn't see the teen.

"Ah, he's turning in Sylvia to the sup, he'll be back in no time."

"What do you gain from doing this?" Claudia questioned, "Why me and her?"

Yabuki showed no emotion, "What do we gain? A rise in power. And it isn't just you. We need all the presidents. No matter whether you live or die, Ethan _will_ take charge of Seidoukan's student body and he will gather them all."

Claudia cursed for the first time she could remember, knowing she was the one who instated him initially, and because he hadn't insisted on it, rather declining when she approached him with the offer, Claudia had no suspicions of him.

How wrong she was. "But _who_ is behind all this?"

He didn't answer and gave a powerful opening rush, forcing her to defend against his assault with just the hilts of Pan-Dora. Unable to continue this longer, she reluctantly used the ability of her Ogre Lux and sifted through possibilities. As she saw them, she became afraid for everyone. The presidents and the Genestella.

Almost all of the possibilities ended with her dead. She was strong, with Pan-Dora, but Yabuki was the victor in all. The scariest part of all this was...Yabuki is not the strongest. _Who_ are _they?_ Claudia thought.

Until one opportunity arose. She took it.

Claudia parried a cut, but had thrown her arm too wide to the side. Yabuki's arm flashed to the spot, the kunai rammed between the ribs and Claudia started seeing blood on her uniform and felt it bubbling up her throat. Yet she went on as Yabuki stepped back and he realized his mistake too late as her pink blade flashed and a cut flashed across his chest.

He fell to his knees as Claudia dropped to the floor and crawled over to her, clutching his wound, "Claude...I'm sorry. It hurt me to raise my hand against you."

She couldn't say anything at the grief in his eyes.

"I knew you'd use your ability of Pan-Dora. So I used that opening to kill myself. You know..." he laughed bitterly, "I was given the mission to lead up to this point. What I didn't expect was me falling for you. I...really didn't."

Yabuki coughed a glob of blood to the side, "I want you to rest peacefully. Ethan...also has his regrets."

"He..." Claudia tried to speak.

"He doesn't with for anyone to be harmed. Konoha has a Peace and War faction, the latter recently formed. We both are members of the former. I wanted to-"

Claudia smiled weakly, "To tell me. But I see your predica...predicament. They never wanted you alive. Those watching you." She had not just seen Yabuki kill her, but she had tried a possibility where they went to a mutual agreement. It hadn't ended well for either of them, as newcomers had ambushed the two of them.

"Yeah...The less Ethan knows, the better off he'll be," Yabuki smiled as he chucked.

"No. The more I know, the more it'll fuel my hatred for Benedict," growled a voice.

"Boss," Yabuki grinned when he looked up, "Sorry."

"I don't want to see you go," a tear rolled down Ethan's eye, "It hurts. We _have_ been friends for so long. First trainees, then partners, and now as a subor-no...brother."

"I don't mind too much boss. Just help Damien with his goal." Yabuki nodded and as his life finally started to fade at the release of his untimely burden, he whispered to Claudia, "We need a new life. We need one where we can see each other soon."

Claudia touched Yabuki's pale face, "Eishirou...kun. I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner." She looked at Ethan weakly, "When you are the new president, please keep everyone safe."

Sorrow filled Ethan's eyes, but also resolve, "I will. I should have said so sooner, but they were watching the moment Sylvie and I arrived. St first i had thought it was _my_ backup..."

Claudia closed her eyes, "I see. But now you know. Thank...you."

Ethan lay Yabuki by Claudia and felt his rage fill him at the retreat of the unit that was there to ensure Yabuki's death. He didn't know about this...and Yabuki did. Yet he faced the fact with his chest held high. Just...why?

As he finished the S-classified techniques, he waited for footsteps. Hearing them, "Akame, Georg. Bring these two to Room V8. When there, tell the guys there to take all I have and do their best. I want it done pronto. Georg. Magic circle. Screw the slow transports."

"Yessir."

When the shine behind him faded, Ethan slammed his fist half an inch into the dirt, "Those rumors have better be damn true."

* * *

 **[Location- Konoha Academy/HQ]**

 **[Date- Unknown]**

 **[Operator- Namikazi]**

Sylvia was disoriented as she lie on the bed.

" _It has to be done."_

" _I don't care if you never forgive me."_

" _Just...know that I was reluctant to do this. Be glad about it. You have been the only one to gain this feeling from me."_

She turned her head and the room spun, the contents of the syringe still present but fading.

The door far from her view opened and lights flared open harshly. She heard an apology shortly after she closed her eyes against the glare. Through her eyelids, the lights dimmed considerably to the extent of a normal room. Movement was heard and a cup was filled before a silhouette stood at the door.

"Bingo." It slid easily at the voice recognition and word recognition.

Ethan walked up to Sylvia's bed in the cell and held out the glass, "Please drink."

She threw her arm out but everything became unrecognizable and she hit his other hand at the bicep. She couldn't speak as she felt the urge to vomit and made a noise that would have embarrassed her in a normal situation.

"Sylvia. As I said, you'll hate me. But I'm not going to let you die. It's a promise to myself and Claudia."

Barely hearing the words, she stilled and he placed a hand on her to lay her down and put down the cup on the floor. "This'll be...horrible. You'll feel like being drained, dead, but trust me, you'll feel infinitely better after this than waiting for the drug to wear off in half a week. I see you now and will only cringe when your body reaches the stage of naturally purging itself of this."

Sylvia couldn't nod as he held her head down and tapped something into her vein at the arm.

She felt as if taking a blood test at first and nothing special, until she realized the room was getting darker. Light and darkness danced in her eyes and she started to panic. Sylvia wanted to move, to remove the thing killing her, but she was paralyzed. From a great distance, a reassuring voice comforted her, "Relax. You'll be fine. Fight, and it'll only kill you."

She didn't want to trust it, but she was dead already. No use in fighting. As the dark spots filled her vision and all sense of feeling vanished, her thoughts became muddled and she felt tired. "Don't sleep though."

She fought hard to stay awake, and despite the one-sided battle, kept on trying to stay awake but not panicking. "Good."

At that word, the light returned and her vision was black as her eyes adjusted to the light. Sylvia felt weak and clenched her fist first before flexing her arms. She turned her head successfully to see a large container of..."Blood that isn't exactly yours anymore."

"It's..."

Ethan brought up the cup, "It's a lot, yes, but the thing is...it's a abundant amount of excess blood. If your body isn't purged, especially within that half-week time. Plooey."

Sylvia couldn't raise her head and Ethan gently did it for her, and topped the cup slowly into her mouth. She drank the water quickly and after swallowing, felt something different. It was as if everything normal here is different. "Revitalizing liquid. It's a delicacy for prisoners. Not us, but we prefer water and save these for those near death."

Sylvia smiled as he sat closer when she opened her mouth, "I feel like a child."

He looked at themselves and ran a hand through her hair, "Yes...I suppose you should."

"Why?" Tears formed in her eyes when she asked and he hardened when he moved his arm.

"We are enemies. Not exactly to you, but to the academy. You are just going to be a bargaining chip. Along with the other presidents." Ethan stood, "Speaking of which. I need to go soon. there will be a lot of confusion and uproar about Claudia's death and about your performance. But luckily for us, your occupation can make yours easier to cover up."

As he took the cup, he saw Sylvia wipe her tears and sob jerkily, "You really don't care about me? Not a real sliver of love?"

He didn't respond and simply walked out.

* * *

 **[Date-Unknown]**

 **[Operator- Namikazi]**

Ethan looked up at the door opening, putting down the report of the death of Claudia Enfield and Yabuki Eishirou. "So, nothing else?"

The bespectacled man shook his head, "No, nothing else we could find at all about your predecessor."

Ethan sighed, "Tragic. So all we have here is that a Shadow Star went rogue and had failed an assassination of the Seidoukan president? And he acted alone?"

"Not only that," the man answered, "He had a motive, but Yabuki was forced to switch plans. A syringe containing an unknown drug was found, but before we could find out what it contained and what it was made of, it disappeared. Can you imagine that? Top-security facility of the Enterprise of medicine and crime, stolen right from our noses!"

Ethan gritted his teeth, "Great. Now the trail's cold?"

"Pretty much. I wonder what he had wanted to do. My guess is taking her hostage for some grand purpose."

Ethan stood and held out a hand, "It's nothing we can do about now. Thank you for your help on this, even if we reached a dead end."

"Not needed, President. It's...bizarre, speaking to a new president just appointed."

Ethan seemed to remember something, "Ah! Why me as the president? I had only arrived for a month in Seidoukan. Asterisk even."

The man seemed to mull over the fact, "My guess is that you seem to be a good leader in her eyes. She had mentioned that you are a good fighter, something the academies would like." Ethan smiled gratefully, "Anyhow, good luck, new president."

"Thank you."

When the man left, Ethan turned to nothing, "A1, 2? What do you think?" There was no reply and Ethan raised an eyebrow before looking at the desk then swiping his hand over the panel, the windows darkening to keep passerby from seeing the room.

Movement came from the side of his desks and the shimmering stopped when the hoods of a male and female appeared, the female speaking, "Good, Namikazi. Nobody knows a thing."

"You're sure, two?" Ethan asked cautiously.

She nodded, "Damien has records on the heads. He's the head of the crime facility. The fact he didn't even bother a suspicious glance at you is a supremely reassuring thing. He's been reelected so many times as the head because of his abilities."

Ethan blew out a breath of relief then saw a blinking button appear on his desk. Both operatives vanished once putting on their hoods and Ethan opened the windows before answering the call. "E-Er...Amagiri here."

A blonde man with a serious look appeared onscreen, "Hey, Seidoukan president."

"Ah! Ernest!" Ethan grinned, "Have you gotten any news on Sylvia?" The president of Galahadworth shook his head sadly and Ethan slumped into his seat and leaned back, "Bad...this is bad."

Ernest nodded agreement and brought up a hand, "I don't want to raise suspicions among Asterisk, but...here's something I found. Konoha."

"The fallen academy?" Ethan leaned forward, "It's not possible, is it?"

Ernest showed concern, "It is possible. Records show that students and teachers alike were the top of the top, the strongest among the _world_. They lay out flawless plans, put in brutal training and are well-organized, what we can say is that they are one."

"Not anymore," Ethan mumbled.

"What was that?"

"If they were that great..." Ethan put his chin on his fist, "How did they fall in the first place?"

"The academies saw the threat and the Enterprise requested their help. By being larger and more determined to putting a stop to their rise as the single ruler, they barely brought it down."

"I see," Ethan mused, "Shame we can't be that way now."

"Agreed," Ernest sighed, "Also, the presidents are holding a meeting at the normal meeting place, the Rikka Park meeting center at Hotel Elnath. There are some things we have to address about the things that happened at Seidoukan."

"Right!" Ethan snapped his fingers, "Also my own news to share, but a heads up, you may not like it."

Ethan closed the window and shut down the console, "A1, 2, we have work to do. Ready group Resurrection."

* * *

 **[Rikka Park meeting Center - Hotel Elnath]**

 **[October 1, 2239]**

 **[Details are downloaded from the files of operator Namikazi.]**

The teen looked back one more time before turning his attention to the occupants of the table.

One was an arrogant looking man with red hair and piercing eyes that were slightly narrowed. His grey-black coat and badge showed that he originated from Rewolf. Because of his perceptiveness, ruthlessness, and accuracy of judging one's ability, the 'Tyrant' of Rewolf, Dirk Eberwin, is one of two humans who is a student president.

The next man was a more calm individual who sat forward with his chin on his hand. However, his lax appearance hid the fact that he was just as observant as the first and was an experienced fighter. Ernest Fairclough's white coat and badge showed that he came from Galahadworth.

The third man was an Asian man with the stereotypical eyes of one of the ethnicity. Despite his clueless expression, he was the student president of Arlequint and was capable of in-depth and quick thinking, Shuuma Shakon.

The fourth was not a male student, but a young girl with black hair who was quietly dozing off. At the entrance of the newcomers, she woke. However, looks can be deceiving. The young, innocent look hid one of the most powerful Genestella available. One who was rumored to be older than her age suggests and one who fended off the best forces of Konoha. The Rank One of Jie Long, Fan Xinglou.

The final person who sat is the black-haired teen who gave off a presence of playfulness. But his abilities in combat rivaled the Page Ones of Jie Long. Unknown to most of Askterisk, this president is a squad leader of Konoha, and both liked and disliked in the academy. Going under the operative name of Namikazi (due to him sharing common abilities as his ancestor ) Ethan Sakamoto is the replacement of the former Seidoukan student president, Claudia Enfield, who was slain in a fault in the original mission objectives.

"I feel no difference here. I think it's a good thing that that bitch is kidnapped," scoffed Dirk. His rude statement made Ernest and Ethan stand.

The latter pointed at Dirk, "You do not talk to her that way. Ever. The safety of all presidents are vital. I don't want you be getting such a bad reputation where everyone gets a majority to leave you for dead."

Dirk gave a look of contempt, "Insolent brat. You think I would care about what you have to say just because you are close to her?"

There was a rush of wind and suddenly, Ernest had his sword at Dirk's throat, "Apologize. You are acting out of line in front of all the presidents and have the nerve to insult the president of Queenvail."

Dirk was silent for a moment then grunted, "Fine. I wouldn't say things like that about her again. Will have to agree with your point."

Once both students sat, Ernest addressed Ethan, "Thank you for accepting the position. I know that it is sudden, but Claudia believed that you could handle the work."

Ethan shrugged, "I suppose. Anyhow, I want all of you to know that Arlequint and Seidoukan will be working together on a project if you don't mind."

Dirk gave a grunt, "Well, at the least you are straightforward about that. I'm sure that the old president would have kept us in the dark about it."

Ethan frowned slightly, "Hmm. Anyhow, don't worry about us taking advantage. In return for the use of Arlequint facilities, we will pay about seventy percent or even more if requested of the R&D fees."

Shuuma spoke up, "Actually, you don't have to do that. I think what you proposed initially is already enough." Ethan nodded thanks. "Ah, the official announcement should be soon, right?"

Ethan nodded and Fan Xinglou spoke up, "Hold on one moment. I heard rumors of internal conflict the other day and the Shadow Stars had to be mobilized. Could that have anything to do with this?"

Ethan gave a blank look then snapped his fingers, "Ah. Well, it was something we had to deal with, and why would you think that that incident had to do anything with this?" Fan Xinglou gave a sly smile suggesting that she knew exactly how this had proceeded and all other members frowned slightly as they watched the girl who shrugged.

"Ah, whatever."

"Not only that," Dirk cut in, "There was supposedly a third-party interloper during that same time, which explained the absence of the release of the initial perpetuator. Claudia didn't have much to do about this before she died and now the Queenvail president is missing. I will bet you had something to do with it, didn't you, Konoha operative? That's why the bitch isn't here?"

Ethan closed his eyes and smiled sweetly, "How can you suggest such a thing?"

"The events are too coincidental."

"Not only that," Ernest added, "I found out what's been bothering me. You don't seem too concerned about Sylvia's disappearance."

Ethan laughed, "That's right, I don't. Because you two got it correct. Yes, I'm in Konoha, and yes, she's a prisoner. Hence...her absence."

The sound of metal clashing and a fist being caught was audible. Ernest had his sword aimed at Ethan's throat but it was caught by a kunai held in his mouth, Ethan's arms and legs catching the limbs of Fan Xinglou.

When Ernest tried to move the blade, Ethan shifted his head and caught the blade between his kunai and chair.

"But all of this I can explain. Please." Minutes passed by in silence and Ethan saw movement behind the presidents of the other academies, but he blinked thrice and the movement ceased, "So?"

Fan Xinglou spoke, "I sense something different in this boy than the ones who had attempted the assassination years ago. I, for one, would listen." She drew back and Ethan sighed in relief, "If you would cast your votes, I'm sure he would appreciate the gesture. Listening to what he has to saw would shed some light on the secrecy of Konoha."

"...If that's the case," Dirk finally said, "Then why not listen to the brat?"

Shuuma nodded, "Honestly, Arlequint is generally unaffected, so a neutral voice would help, wouldn't it?"

Ernest shook his head, "I guess so. We do outnumber him if this is a trick."

Ethan smiled, "Thank you all. I guess I should say something...She's safe for now, that I can assure you."

The presidents relaxed slightly as he continued, "But...you all let your guard down. Fools, Fan Xinglou, you are wrong and so are you, Ernest." The girl raised and eyebrow then whipped around, picking up her chair and slamming it into the man behind her. Unfortunately for her, the man had quickly reacted and broke it be parrying the attack.

"Operation start," the man said emotionlessly and bodies flew from the bushes as men rushed out. Dirk widened his eyes as he realized the Cats were all already murdered and as he stood with Shuuma, they were surrounded and Ernest grabbed his sword, activating it and charging at Ethan. Men jumped in the way and deflected the blade effortlessly but suddenly backed off, watching the blond man cautiously.

Ethan walked forward with two kunais in hand, "Thank you. I will fight one-on-one. No tricks, just skill. For the honor of this knight."

Ernest prepared to parry an attack from Ethan when he saw the teen run at him but suddenly, the boy coughed up a clump of blood and fell to his knees.

"Your job is done," the first man spoke. Ethan widened his eyes and narrowed them a moment after.

He quickly got up to fight, only to have his leg broken and slashed across the chest, causing a cry of agony. The presidents watched, astonished, at the turn of events and Fan Xinglou moved first, placing everyone under an illusion with Genjutsu.

She quickly retrieved Ethan as the men stared in wonder, one speaking, "Was that a simulation?"

The first man spoke, "No, it wasn't. Genjutsu, men...Genjutsu."

Fan Xinglou showed surprise at his perception and he smiled, "My name...Well, that's going to be a thing for later. My own family specializes in this type of jutsu. This is powerful to these men, considering that they've trained quite a bit under Genjutsu influence... _My influence._ You are very talented Ms. Fan. Sadly, not enough for me."

"Leave the boy alone now," the president of Jie Long glared, "It seems that you forced him to work for you."

"Yes, in exchange for the safety of Sylvia Lyyneheym." Guns were aimed and swords were pointed. The seven men standing behind him making multiple calls on the radio. "He was reluctant to capture her, but we gave him an ultimatum, get her as a prisoner or we kill her with Ms. Enfield. His purpose is served and he is ready to be tossed aside, making a total loss for Seidoukan. If you do want him to be left alone, tell me: Are you and the others willing to follow us without any resistance? And don't think that you can make a plan."

The presidents looked at one another then looked back to the man who stood with his arms crossed, patiently waiting.

* * *

 **[Locaiton- Seidoukan Academy]**

 **[Date -** **October 1, 2239 22:39]  
**

 **[Operator- Namikazi]**

Julis heard a sound outside her window and went to look outside. She noticed nothing out of the ordinary until she realized something was lying on the railing, nearly slipping over.

She ran out onto the balcony and pulled in the object, only to realize it is a body, shortly finding out it was Ethan. "Ayato! What happened? The head of the academy is going insane! Nobody knows where any of the presidents went!"

His breathing was labored, "It...it was all a trap. There's a great threat...Th-..."

"Ayato!" Julis cried and leaned in to feel for his pulse, fearing for the worst when getting a careful look at his injuries. As she put him onto the floor, she heard another person land and quickly turn, reaching for Aspera Spina but flinched when she didn't find it at her side. She kicked aside the figure at the door; she ran inside to retrieve her Lux, but the moment her hand grasped it, something hit her head and before she fell unconscious, _How did they catch up so quick?_

* * *

 **[Location - Konoha HQ]**

 **[Date - Unknown]**

 **[Operator - One]**

"So, Hideki?" The brunette looked up from the stack of paper in front of him.

Hideki gave a grim look, "I don't know, Damien. I'm not sure if I killed him." He gave a grimace and started to bow in apology.

"Hey! No need," Damien reassured him and held out a single digital plate, "Take a look. It's from Ethan himself. This is why I had the backup plan. He asked of it himself."

A hologram of the teen appeared and he seemed to adjust the camera, "There we go. Should do!"

He cleared his throat, _"Okay, uh, boss? I guess? Usually we all refer to each other as names, but this is going to be an official recording...So, boss it is!_

 _"Anyhow, boss. This is bound to happen for sure, but in the case I do get extremely lucky that nobody finds out that I'm in Konoha Hideki and the guys can skip this." He was silent for a moment to let the request get through, then continued, "Once we initiate the operation to take the presidents of the academies..._

 _"Beat me up, simple as that. Brutally if you like. I would actually prefer it, as we do have the throw-aways. What are they called? Expendables? Yeah! You can act like I'm an Expendable myself if the presidents expose me. If we do that, then they'll think I didn't do it out of free-will._

 _"What's that you say? You are doubting me?" He gave a cheerful laugh, "Of course you know I'm willing to die for Konoha, no need to doubt me. Uh...back on topic, once you beat me up, throw me in with the rest to rot. For a moment until after you announced that the presidents are held hostage until your demands are met._

 _"You can add that I'm an added bonus or something like that. Once you make the announcement, I'm free to go! If I die because I got torn apart, no matter! Namikazi out~"_

Hideki finally spoke, "That kid...I really don't know what to say."

Damien put away the disk, "Crazy, right? Now, let's set thing up and put forward our compromise."

Hideki was silent, then brought up a concern, "Sir...you know about the War faction Benedict made, right? With the presidents in our hands, I can imagine him killing them all and sparking outrage throughout the world."

Damien seemed stressed at the notice, "Yes. I know that. But there are too many of them and too many unknown. We won't be able to oust them all if we move now. I will take that risk and responsibility for that move. I'll initiate the call to set Ethan as a warden and set Alpha group, along with the Younglings, to watch over them all. It's the best I can do right now."

Hideki nodded, "Sure. At least then we can charge Benedict for breaking the Prison Laws if he makes a move and exile him. Once that's done, we can clean up those who start leaving and get a full list."

"Whatever. I never intended that in the first place, and personally, I doubt it'll happen."

"Trust me boss, this'll prove effective. With nobody to follow if their leader is gone, they'll surely follow. We need to keep a close eye on the list now."

* * *

 **Well, chapter 3 ready! I hope you enjoyed it and I'll catch you all next time. Happy New Year everyone!**

 **I know it's been a while. Not writer's block. Not losing interest, just laziness. In life, I'm a reeeally lazy guy. Really lazy. But just as a way to communicate rather than just on the FF site (and so you know I haven't quit or died of stress)...go ahead and pm me and I'll send those(if any) my Line ID, and I guess I'll just pick up a chat whenever possible and those of you enjoying this story and any other can bug me for updates(other stories count too) :D**

 **Yes...I copied and pasted this. Deal with it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: Ophelia is going to be tad stronger or maybe much stronger. She will mainly use her miasma power but won't** _ **rely**_ **on it. I'll have her use her Lux too.**

 **Also, major shoutout to King Hero Gilgamesh for prompting me to continue the story! From now on though, I will refer to him as Gilg! In addition, welcome my new Beta Reader and co-writer Gilg!**

* * *

 **[Location - Asterisk]**

 **[Date - Two days after the previous events]**

 **[Loading file four...]**

All around Asterisk and in the known world, the screens all went dark and static filled the screen until it turned completely dark. A voice spoke out after moments of confused silence:

 _[All of the areas ruled by the Enterprise and the Enterprise itself. As you have noticed, the student presidents of all academies of Asterisk have vanished.]_

The lights turned on in the prison and everyone saw the presidents locked behind bars and a bloody form of a boy.

 _[All are well, except the president of Seidoukan. He put up a respectable amount of resistance, but he was not strong enough.]_

 _[Now, if you want to try and hunt us down and take the presidents back by force, go ahead. Take the risk. By the time you arrive, they'll all be dead.]_

 _[If you agree to send out a proposition or want to listen to ours, send a man to Building E221 at Hideyoshi Street at eight in the evening. Simple as that. If a month has passed by without a word, we'll take that as your usual disregard for your citizens and we'll put up a public execution for everyone to view.]_

There was silence then the voice became one full of stuttering anxiety, _[M-may I go no-]_

Everyone heard the sound of a neck snapping then a robotic voice spoke in the place of the first.

 _[You won't find us if you tried: The ones who uploaded the prerecorded tape are dead or dying criminals in the room where they sent this out to everyone, the one who had spoken for the first half is already a dead criminal.]_

 _[I will repeat what he said. If you do manage to find our academy, go and try to raid us. You'll Lose infinitely more Genestellas than we do by the time the attack is repelled. So...you have a month, or we'll kill the presidents.]_

* * *

 _Sylvia glanced up as the doors opened and stared expressionlessly at the presidents from different academies trudging through. Julis widened her eyes and the lead man allowed one president per cell, forcing Fan Xinglou to enter one last._

 _He followed afterwards and locked her arms and legs in a stasis cell, "That's for a precaution. Apologies if you don't feel your limbs anymore...but we'd rather have you complaining than have all of Konoha scrambling to get back a prisoner we can't get back."_

 _Fan Xinglou said nothing but gave a silent glare in return and the man turned around, walking out and locking the door behind him, "Bring Ethan in."_

 _Sylvia quickly looked at the door and didn't see him, only to recognize that he was the body that was being dragged in. She stood quickly and the man noticed. "What did you do? I thought he was working with you!"_

" _That's what you were led to believe, Ms. Lyyneheym. Of course if you knew earlier, then we would have to rush the capture, causing not only the Seidoukan president to be dead, but you too. But you really got comfortable with him. So...a fortunate thing for us, no problems caused."_

 _He nodded and Ethan was thrown in unceremoniously in his own cell, and Sylvia ran to the door, "You can't just let him die there!"_

 _The leader waved away his companion and walked up to the door, "And you care?"_

 _She visibly flinched then answered, "I do care."_

 _As they stared each other down, only the buzzing of the overhead lights were heard until the man chuckled, "How sweet...you completely disregard that he betrayed you. Send in the cameraman! Get a shot of the presidents!"_

 _He walked out as multiple men came through._

Damien leaned back as Hideki finished, "So she does disregard it?"

Hideki shrugged, "Don't know. I really feel bad for the kid. Ethan, I mean. Not even sure if he's conscious at this point."

The reply was a indecisive hum, "You know...it's going to be a tough choice. If we take care of him now, suspicion will rise about his condition when we give him back. If we leave him alone, he'll die. I like that kid and don't want that to happen." Damien grunted, "Great. You made this difficult."

Hideki chuckled, scratching his head, "Sorry boss."

Damien waved his hand, "Screw it. Send the supplies. Let the Diva treat him. We'll take the risk. I'm sure we'll be able to explain that."

"Cool, thanks Damien."

* * *

 **[Location - Konoha HQ: Block UI6]**

 **[Date - Present Day]**

He felt as if something was tightening around him, and remembering the one year he went to a foreign country for a mission and ended up nearly dying to a constrictor, saved only by Akame and her Murasame.

He sat up and quickly held his side, seeing blood as he drew his hand away, "Ethan!"

He was surprised at the voice and saw the medical items Sylvia had treated him on the floor.

"So you actually helped me. Even if we are enemies." He glanced at the door.

"Ethan," Sylvia spoke quietly, "They used you."

Ethan stared at her as she nodded and he smiled ruefully. He dropped the bomb none of the presidents knew, "No. This was planned out so you'd follow willingly. All of you that would attend the meeting. I knew that eventually at least one of you would find out. Xinglou, maybe because she fought Damien himself. Dirk next because of all presidents, he is the most intelligent."

Sylvia realized she couldn't move and Ethan swung his legs over the side of the bed, watching Sylvia although he need not to, "Open."

When he stepped out, he continued, "So I faked my role, but unfortunately, my eh...superior was a a bit more brutal than I anticipated. Not in pain or anything, One made sure that we could withstand tremendous amounts of pain. But...that training won't help you if your heart is punctured. Thank you." The door shut as the voice recognition confirmed his authority.

" **Have you no mercy?!** " He heard a savage voice yell at him as the door shut and turned to the young girl. " **Have you not broken her heart enough times already?"**

"Another girl crying at my betrayal is nothing," Ethan calmly replied, "Another girl's life destroyed by me means nothing to me. I may have been affected a _slight_ bit this time, as I developed some feelings...but it's not enough. Eight times is enough to kill my emotions for such a trivial part of life."

" **You heartles-"**

Ethan suddenly cut her off, "I have my reasons Fan Xinglou." The door opened behind him, "You'll see."

"See what?" An arrogant voice spoke from the doorway.

"See that the way I treat them will be better than the way you ever will, Benedict. I, at least, don't run around promoting my views of how we handle our problems."

The man flared and grabbed Ethan by the shirt, slamming him into the wall, "You really, really piss me off."

"I know. But then again, since day one. Only because I'm younger and better at my job than you."

"Better, huh?" Benedict scoffed, then dragged him over to Sylvia's cell, "You say you've developed feelings for her. You aren't supposed to. Show me that you've crushed them."

Everyone widened their eyes as he walked up to Sylvia impassively. He grabbed her by the throat and squeezed.

The presidents stood and shouted protest and Sylvia struggled before weakening and slumped in his hand. Ethan threw her down on the floor as stunned anger was directed at the teen. Only the voice of Benedict broke the silence.

"You didn't kill her."

"Enough is enough, bastard. We still need them all."

Benedict whisked out and stood at the door as it opened, "You act as if you still care."

"I have my reasons. Also remember, _I_ am the prison warden. If I hear anything about you screwing around..."

"I wonder how you'll do against me."

"Definitely better, these injuries are only due to me choosing to take them." The door closed and as Ethan walked up to Sylvia and picked her up, laying her on the bed, Fan Xinglou understood what he meant and said nothing, giving him the chance to gloat when he finished.

He chose not to and continued fixing the bed for Sylvia before leaving the cell. When he approached the warden's room, he felt a tap on his shoulder and a voice mumble, "Mason needs you to talk to him. The Enterprise is closing in on a warehouse. We need you and Forsaken's First Branch to take down the raid party they have."

"All of the Youngin's?" Ethan asked.

"Yes, it's a big group. Otherwise they're a strong group, regardless, they're trouble. We can watch the prisoners for you." Ethan nodded and turned from the office, heading out the door. He felt Alpha Eight still behind and spoke softly.

"Tell me everything that is spoken and done. I'll deal with the consequences. For them, that is. Food and water is in the usual spot."

* * *

 **[Location - Unknown]**

 **[Date - Unknown]**

 **[Operator - Namikazi]**

" _Damien said it's a risk of you fighting out there, kiddo," Mason stated as he checked his gear, "You're to stay in the warehouse and help my guys move the stuff."_

" _And mine help you hold off the Enterprise?" The reply gained a tiny grin, "Roger that."_

Ethan grunted as he lifted a box and put it in the cargo hold of the helicopter. At a call, he jogged over to another man and helped him move the crate into the last remaining spot. "We got that. But...how will we get everything with just these?"

The man smirked, "Namikazi...those are the ones we used to get over here. If you recall, we got many pilots rather than just fighters. _You_ brought them."

"Uh-huh...?" Then it clicked, "Wait...don't tell me..."

He smiled and gestured to the aircraft behind him, "Yup. Enough to carry everything home! And we can split up everyone into even amounts of groups. I think five per."

Ethan widened his eyes momentarily and then pointed into the distance, "Say...did I see someone?"

* * *

 **[Location - Konoha HQ]**

 **[Time - Relative to Present]**

"Damien," spoke the man staring intently at the wall of screens, "You saw that?"

"Yes, yes I did," he replied calmly, "Is there a way to tamper with the video, Hideyoshi?"

The hacker of the Cleanup Squad grimaced, "Not without alerting the Enterprise. All these feeds are live from the members in the raid...Then do I alert Ethan of this?"

As Damien watched the man zoom in the distant silhouette of the young operator, "No. He doesn't suspect. If he goes now...I think the same case would happen as if we tampered with said feed. They'll call for more backup, and I'm sure that we won't have enough time to get everything and everyone. We'll take the risk of exposing him."

* * *

Ethan stared at the spot then shook his head, "Nevermind, must be imagining things. Quickly, so we can take off the moment they arrive."

"Right," the man ran to the other pilots loading the cargo, urging them to pick up the pace.

As Ethan stepped back, he felt a something arming right at him. He turned his head and three things happened. One, he saw the laser sight pointed right at him. Two, the visual recognition alerted the Enterprise members watching the raid, and three, the man stopped reaching for the trigger, recognizing the teen.

" _This is Sierra Seven reporting! Do I take down the target, over?"_

The reply was almost immediate.

 _[Try to take him alive, we need to watch the others, over and out.]_

Sierra had become distracted, which was what nearly killed him. He heard the helicopters start up and took a quick glance before looking back, only to see a flash in the night, the kunai knocking his gun aside before bouncing harmlessly off his vest.

As Ethan slashed sideways, Sierra parried the cut and swung the butt of his rifle upward, stunning the teen. He swung it to the side of his head, with the intent to knock him out when he was swept off his feet, Ethan blindly kicking as he recovered.

The gun fell from his grasp and Sierra rolled behind him as a foot stomped where his neck was before, he got himself up and stared down the teen, "President, surrender now and follow us for interrogation."

"If I do, they'll kill me," Ethan replied, frustration evident in his voice. "I don't want to die as much as everyone."

"We got you covered, sir. If we go now, they won't notice."

"They will," he glanced back.

"Sir, now. It'll be better now than later."

Ethan looked back once more then nodded and stepped forward, "Fine...promise me you'll get the other presidents soon."

Sierra picked up his rifle, "We wi-"

He flew back into a tree when Ethan kicked him, "Idiot, don't let your guard down! I'll have you know, I work _with_ them!" He grabbed the rifle and pointed it at Sierra's head, finger twitching before whirling around and firing into the forest, suppressing two more soldiers.

 _[_ _Namikazi! We must move now!_ _]_

Ethan fired again as one man moved and sent him back behind his cover. Bullets flew by his head as the other fired at him and Ethan ran away from them. As they gave chase, they saw others from their team running after him and turned back to check on their injured brother.

Ethan ducked as bullets whizzed by his knees and a machine gun could be heard firing. After a moment he realized it was one of few attack choppers they had firing at the raiding squad. Couple of men went down and the others ran back for cover, the warehouse too far and the area between them too open. Ethan jumped into one of remaining two still on the ground and an arm pulled him on board. "Close. Did you get anyone?"

Ethan breathed heavily, feeling his side bleeding from the wound reopening, "No, help came to the guy I was fighting before I could get him."

"Damn, then surely they got a look at you."

"Yes. It's only about time before an alert is sent out."

Ethan frowned out the door, silently cursing himself for not having someone else inspect the forest.

* * *

 **[Location - Konoha Exterior]**

 **[Time - 22:31]**

The passerby looked up at the faint, ominous sound of multiple aircraft. She glanced up and gasped at the sight of helicopters flying in a 'V' formation loom over her. She started to run for cover as they neared, but as soon as they appeared, they vanished, leaving nothing to see nor hear at the pier.

She looked around in fear and confusion and ran into her fiance, "Dear, did you hear that?"

As he nervously held the cones, he nodded, "Did you see what it was?"

"Yes...helicopters, they disappeared somewhere there," she pointed out at the distant sea.

Ethan hopped off the helicopter and onto the roof of Konoha, "Ah, home sweet home. Just the view of Asterisk makes me glad."

Mason laughed at the city not so far away, "Me too. It shows how hopeless they are. We're right here, waiting for them...yet nothing!" He shook his head in contempt, heaving a sigh, "Hopeless, hopeless...Let's get in."

Ethan nodded and went down the steps to the hangar to help unload the cargo they had retrieved before a pilot called his attention by grabbing his shoulder. "One wants an audience."

Surprised, Ethan nodded wordlessly and walked quickly to what students would call the auditorium, although the room resembled a court more than it did the former. The single woman sitting at the podium smiled at his entrance and held up a hand as Ethan approached, "Sorry that you wasted your time. You aren't meeting him here Namikazi, he wants you in his office."

Ethan nodded and started out the door before nervously turning, "Eh, Five, where is that?"

"Outside this door, there's that hallway without lights. Walk all the way to the end and it should be the third door from the elevator, that's the public office he uses, so don't expect the entire Council to be there."

He grinned, "Alright. Thanks Lyn." She nodded listlessly and returned her attention to the stack of mission reports from the previous day. "Say, how do we have so many of those? I thought we operate only in Asterisk?"

She shook her head, peering over the top edge of the papers, "No, just the main Resurrection, the Enterprise has its hold all over the world, so we have many other headquarters everywhere, from hidden in Moscow to plain view in the United States. As to where...hate to break it to you, but your position isn't near to the requirement for me to openly reveal to you."

He swooned, one of the commanders of the biggest operation, but yet his rank wasn't close? Ethan raised an eyebrow at the extent and complexity of Konoha. "Wow, well I best be going then."

Five, or also known as Lyynesta Hokkaidou, hummed absently in reply. Ethan found the room mentioned and saw only two people. His face fell. as he was secretly hoping he would at least see the entire Council in one room. "Ethan. I have bad news."

Ethan was merely silent, waiting, and the man at the blanket of screens pointed, gathering his attention, "That's...me!"

The man nodded, "Both Damien and I saw, but we had to risk exposing you or..."

"Or failing the recovery mission because they'll be more alert, right?" Ethan finished.

There was a sad nod, then casual swiping before the cameras vanished and replaced by an internet announcement, " **WANTED:** Ethan Sakamoto - For treason, killing of Claudia Enfield and Yabuki Eishirou, and the abduction of six presidents. Reward to be negotiated. Threat rank: A+, approach with extreme caution or run on sight."

Ethan chuckled as he looked at the rank, "A bit of a overestimation there, eh? I wouldn't class myself as too overly powerful. B should fit. But...Yabuki..." As Hideyoshi placed his hand on his shoulder, Ethan shook his head, "No, mourning is over. I only want to do things that would push us towards our goal. Staying back like this is foolish."

Damien swiped his desk to show live feeds of cameras all over Asterisk: guards were more common, the people nervous but alert, and the traffic quicker than usual. "They are all out for you. Not for your head yet, as you are an asset to them. But one good thing came out of this: Since they've spent and deployed all their resources for _you_ , we can have breathing room in here, and out."

"That's good then!" Ethan exclaimed, "I just stay here and relax!"

"Bingo," Damien replied, "That's all you need to know. If we get more, then you'll be alerted. Get back to UI6 for now. You'll be our last resort in mission calls."

"Yessir!" Ethan replied and went out the door.

* * *

 **[Location - Konoha HQ: Block UI6]**

Julis looked around and sighed, "How should we plan to get out?"

Shuuma glanced at her in surprise, "Uh, I probably shouldn't point this out, but even if we _do_ get out, how will we handle the entire academy's force? Surely we'll tire out before then and Sakamoto won't be leaving an event like this slide."

"Don't bring up the traitor," Ernest growled as he ground out the words, "He's the reason we're here in the first place. We do have a chance. If they have Xinglou bound, surely she can be a threat."

"Fools," Xinglou sighed, glancing at her suspended form, "Just because of this doesn't mean I can get us all out. Shuuma is correct. We have a better chance of survival by staying here and waiting for the Enterprise to negotiate, as much as I hate to admit."

"You really think?" Julis shouted, "Look at Sylvia! Her condition! We can't care for one another! If he breaks us in whatever ways he finds, how will we survive?"

Dirk scoffed, "Hey, we still have days to be sitting ducks before we panic. They've technically done nothing to us yet, so you can actually count us as more guests than prisoners, despite the obvious."

Ernest didn't like the tone and stood, before someone cut in, "No. Stop. Shuuma, Xinglou, and Dirk are right. If the Enterprise sees us as valuables, they'll negotiate. All six of us are too much to lose. Without capable young leaders, what can they do to keep the academies intact?"

He turned to Sylvia, "But what if they don't? Then what?"

"Then we should just submit," Sylvia mumbled hopelessly, "Just...just look at _him_ , I heard that he fended off you and Xinglou. There is another man with a notable group stronger than _him_ , and was beaten easily. They aren't even the leaders. What if the leader comes in himself to stop us? You think we'll be let off easily?"

Julis became irritated, "If we will die, why not try to stay alive?"

Sylvia shook her head, "What you don't understand is if they become ruthless and merciless. As I treated Ethan, I barely saved him. And he stated himself that they did it to him on purpose because _he asked them to._ If they were to deal with us, would you prefer to die the way he did or just swiftly?"

There was silence at the crush of their hopes, dashed by the girl who had her dreams,hopes, energy, body, dashed. One who understood being hopeless and helpless, one who understood the futility of going against this enemy. Ernest kicked at the bars, "Damn that kid!"

Sylvia smiled bitterly, "It isn't really him to blame, but ourselves for falling into an easy trap. He's a newcomer to all of us...yet...we trusted him so eagerly, so...easily." Her voice wavered at 'trust' then broke at easily before everyone lapsed into silence as she started to cry before composing herself and walking to the back of her cell.

"He doesn't want bloodshed," Sylvia said to nobody in particular.

"Which doesn't explain why he is building tension between this group and the Enterprise," replied Julis.

Fan Xinglou answered with her interpretation, "But they have an ulterior, and possibly, peaceful method. You all have to admit, they said they'll kill us if the Enterprise doesn't negotiate, but when they said they'd return us alive, they didn't say what condition." She allowed the words to sink in, "These guys are capable of creating, and exploiting loopholes. They are smart enough, and will be shrewd enough. Yet, look at us, all our limbs are intact, and-please excuse me Diva- we're mentally stable too."

Sylvia gave a sad grin, "I'm fine. I promise."

When Xinglou tried to turn towards her, Sylvia moved away, "Anyway, we've been treated well so far, the food is personally cooked by him, and he trusts me enough to eat myself, we all have our own private restroom, although featureless, I suppose all your beds are comfortable, a-"

The door opened with a hiss and she went silent. Ethan strolled into view and went for his warden room, followed by a faint, echo. He spent several minutes inside before he reentered, holding something vaguely resembling a cattle prod. The presidents immediately became alert, and tensed when he entered Xinglou's cell.

The two Genestella stared each other down before Ethan spoke, "Can I trust you to not explode the entire academy when I let you out?"

Xinglou didn't answer at first, then asked, "Are you trying to make light of this situation?"

"I suppose. But I want your answer. It sounds really ironic _me_ asking for _your_ trust, when I lost yours long ago."

"It is," Xinglou replied.

"Can I?"

"It's on you," Xinglou frowned and Ethan showed slight emotion before tapping the cuffs, and when the back opened, Xinglou slowly stepped out, rubbing her joints. Another tap sunk the mechanism into the floor and Ethan stepped out wordlessly, closing the door behind him with the command.

He left the room and entered the warden's quarters, the silence ensuing because the presidents were uncomfortable by his actions. They sat on the bunks and simply did nothing as for the past few days. Minutes later, the main door hissed open and a man looked around the room, first at the area between the cells, then the cells themselves, before knocking on the door leading to the warden's room.

The first knocks came unanswered, so did the second, at the third round, the door swung open, "This better be good."

The anger from Ethan was tangible although he spoke calmly, "When I could finally get back all my lost rest, I get called out again?"

"We have a new recruit. Screened and completely committed, or would be, to the cause. Hideki did it himself. We have no doubt that she's clean. We want you to fill her in, as you have time."

"Who is this girl?" Ethan snapped to attention. The screening process was just as complicated as Konoha's clandestine restoration work. The more potential the new recruit is, the higher position their screener will be, because with powerful people, you cannot have an inexperienced member do it and let in a spy. Hideki is one of the council members. For him to screen this girl himself and pass her...

"Ophelia Landlufen."

* * *

"Why did you want to join?"

"I am not joining out of my will. You guys picked me up here."

"Yet, I've been told you wanted to join. If what you said then is a lie, we must kill you to keep you from sharing our location."

"Really?" came the emotionless laugh, "You don't seem at all powerful to me."

"And I see your power flowing from you. If my people were hunting you, you won't last long at all," power emitted from the man and the girl leaned back in her seat.

"What...is that power? I haven't even seen something like that. Not even from my strongest opponents."

"Because the strongest of the strongest, the best of the best have been in hiding for almost half a decade. You must understand, Konoha held the cream of the crop Genestella, Strega, Dante, and even the rare _human_."

"Now..." came the hollow hum, "I'm quite interested in this place. This...group. How can I qualify?"

"As I've said, be committed to fighting against Asterisk. The Enterprise, that's all."

"If it would mean I can fight strong people who have a slight bit to match against me here, I will."

"That's good. We'll normally assign recruits to smalltime academies in Konoha, but you should make an exception. I want you to train under a boy we know needs help."

"Mentally? Physically?"

There was a laugh, "No, nothing like that, Ophelia. He lost a good friend of his recently, and he needs a person to fill in the spot. I've assigned you as you are already stronger than most of our graduating cadets. They'll envy you, and you must strengthen yourself quick. Ethan Sakamoto would do that."

The door slid open with a smooth sound, a new voice cutting in, "This is the new recruit? I can already count on my two hands how many things she is doing wrong, Hideki."

Hideki smiled at nobody in particular, "Begin."

Ethan flashed quickly above Ophelia, elbow smashing down on her head. The latter was caught by surprise and went down at the blow, but quickly rolled up and brought out a Lux, swinging it skillfully to push back the teen.

After a moment of a waiting, Ophelia ran at Ethan, who smirked as he jumped back. But as she ran, Ophelia thrust forward with her left arm, using her right to hold onto the scythe-like Lux. A ghastly arm of purple chaos ran forward and held onto the leg of Ethan, who fell back when it held him in place.

He tried to kick himself up, but Ophelia stood above him, bringing down the scythe. Ethan planted a foot on her chest and held her arm with one hand, throwing a kunai with the other. Ophelia simply tilted her head when it flew by and brought both maisa arms down, striking the titanium ground.

There was an activation of a Lux and Ophelia whirled around to see a purple blade stretch from a thick hilt. "The Ser-Veresta? You're the user of it?"

"Correct." The answer was followed by a flurry of slashes, the heat emitted from the blade aiming her way. Each strike was parried by the power of her miasma and countered with a slash of her own. When she finally managed to catch the blade with a squirming, purple fist, a klaxon alarm rang through the room.

And all over the academy.

Hideki immediately stood and grabbed a normal looking walkie talkie from his waist, ready to speak into it when Damien broke in with his voice ringing into everyone's earpiece.

 _[We have choppers and are ready to fire. Subs are visible too. We cannot bring out our weapons. They've beaten us this time. But...they sent men in.]_

Hideki widened his eyes at the first statements, shock in his eyes but they glinted at the second statement. He barked into the walkie talkie, "You all know what to do now! **MOVE!** "

Ethan drew his own from his hip, "I got the presidents. Bringing them up. Get all raid members away from me as you guys get to work. Repeat, give me _free passage._ "

 _[ROGER SIRS!]_

Ethan ran to room UI6 and slammed the panel, the door sliding easily. When the presidents looked up for an explanation, there was a muffled explosion below, "Be glad, guys. You'll be of use. Up."

They didn't move and Ethan raised his voice, snarling, " **UP!** "

They stood reluctantly, "The Stjarnagarm is good, but they made a fatal mistake. One we'll use to our advantage."

He brought up collars and went to Sylvia first and she saw a strange look in his eyes for a mere moment, "Put this on your waist."

She complied and he handed the rest to the other presidents, "Out. Open." The doors opened and they hesitantly stepped out. "Follow me."

He turned his back to them and walked up to a wall, sliding it to the side to reveal an elevator. When the doors opened, he felt a kick to the back of his knees and he fell onto one. Julis ran in but before she could punch a button and shout to the others, she screamed in pain as the electricity arched throughout her body. He raised a hand when the movement behind him started to shift and he stood.

He grabbed Julis by the hair and yanked her up, "It seems like you forgot you had that, hmm?" She growled and Ethan smirked, "All of you, in." They stepped in cautiously, Ethan tapping the single button. Almost everyone was flattened to the floor as it shot up quickly, Xinglou the only one managing to stand up.

The door opened and Ethan pushed Xinglou out first, following her out. Sylvia glanced back and followed him. When they exited the shadows, they understood where they are now.

"Damien. You're a go." Ethan heard shooting from the speaker before he held the talk button, standing in the middle of the roof, beside the presidents.

 _[Helga Lindwall, you're a smart and good woman to have found us, and almost outsmarted us. Yes, almost. That's the key word.]_

Everything was silent, listening.

 _[Leader of the Stjarnagarm, winner of a Festa, strongest Strega...No, these are facts, not flattery. I can see why you are so powerful, so promising...but you made one mistake. You sent your own men into certain death.]_

 _[Luckily for you, they are still unharmed. Yes, I am speaking the truth. Let's make a proposition here. You withdraw_ _ **all**_ _your forces now, except yourself, and we'll leave everyone in our hands alive.]_

 _[If not, we'll kill everyone here, and Mr. Sakamoto will kill the presidents in your sight, in front of the entire world's eyes.]_

 _[If you kill him,_ _ **SNIPER**_ _, I will kill everyone here and unleash the entirety of our arsenal onto your force outside. Utterly killing everyone. Not even the strongest Strega can survive an explosion of a helicopter, drowning, or mincing from rotor blades.]_

Ethan waved the held walkie in his hand in view of everyone.

 _[You have one minute to decide what to do...oh...Nevermind, fifty-seven seconds! Tick tock, tick tock.]_

The helicopters hovered for seconds as everyone waited.

 _[Time is ticking, forty. If I don't hear acknowledgement that you heard this message, I'll assume that you are planning something and by twenty five, I'll kill three men a second while loading our weapons. At zero, we'll keep your police prisoner and unleash everything.]_

 _[And kill the presidents too. Never forget that.]_

More silence.

 _[Twent-]_

 _[_ " _STOP! I'll call everyone back!"_ _]_

 _[...Just in time. Good. Now, leave your helicopter and stand on the roof, wait for everyone to retreat and if I notice any tricks, you'll die. So will all one hundred and seventy two men here. Exact body count present, right?]_

 _[_ " _Y-Yes..."_ _]_

 _[Perfect! Now, hop on down! You can swim back with everyone once everyone leaves~]_

* * *

"Wait, Damien, you'll just let them go like that? You seriously meant it?" Ethan blurted as the Genestella started swimming away. Everyone captured in the Stjarnagarm agreed to never reveal the location and had promised to tell the Enterprise that they had lost one week to decide, leaving only one more week before the deadline.

"I see no problem. I keep my promises."

"But they were idiots! Fools! They nearly gave us an ultimatum, but they made a fatal mistake and we gave _them_ one!"

Damien was calm, "That's exactly why I am letting them go. They know the risks against us. They make a mistake, just one, and we turn it against them, where their lives matter."

Ethan composed himself, physically, "I see. We did well though."

Damien nodded and Ethan backed out of the room. Once outside, he clenched his fist, "Weak...Dumb...Shattered...How can they expect to win against us? Konoha is split into two, yet we still get together to fight a common enemy, but all I see in Asterisk is panicking academies and the Enterprise doing the real work."

"So you see them my way?" asked a man behind him. Ethan turned to see Benedict, "We agree on one thing at least."

Ethan sighed, "Yes, I suppose."

"You see what's wrong with this side of Konoha?" he lowered his voice, "They give too many warnings. They don't strike where it hurts."

"But...what abou-"

"Our existence is known, our location is now known. Why bother with warning and hiding? We already exploit their mistakes, which is a lot. We can war with them."

Ethan snapped his fingers, nodding. "Righto. I'll think about that, Benedict."

"Do think. I have a feeling that what I see is much better than what Damien sees."

* * *

Ophelia stood by Ethan silently as he gestured at the teens and children below, "The academy within an academy works like this, new recruits and children are taken in for training of the most rigorous of lessons. Of course, we aren't brutal. From the start that is. We begin light and then becomes worse overtime.

"Now, you're wondering about the children. Konoha is _huge_. After is was 'destroyed', the first and present camouflage net was cast on top of the school. Them being gullible, they didn't bother looking too carefully. We built _down_ from our first floor. There are cities down below the sea, it's simply amazing, you should get a glance.

"Anyhow, when we see a new person who is good, we recruit them, asking them if they would like to work for a organization with good pay - which _is_ good pay- and then go in depth a little more without revealing ourselves at that moment.

"The academy, originally, it's like a normal academy, but if you fail the grade exam, which lets you go up a grade, you get booted, and a _lot_ did. They were sent to another academy recommended by Konoha based on their strengths. Like then, if somebody fails this Starting Years course, you get sent to working on assisting our main frontlines, the ones who pass and operate on the field.

"Now, how do we get our computer experts? Our hackers? Transmission interceptors? They learn that on their own and then pass on the knowledge to those who fail."

"I want to know more about the missions," Ophelia stated.

"Well, it's usually just go around and mess with the Enterprise. But recently, the biggest operation has started, bringing the Enterprise down to its knees and climb up again."

"But for what? You're powerful enough already."

Ethan chuckled, "No. It's more of the satisfaction of beating them, shove their pride right up their ass. What we want to do is to make them listen to us, and let them know it's not them that's the best, but us. However..."

Ophelia turned to him, "However what?"

"Nothing. I think you shouldn't be under my supervision yet. I have a mentor in mind who doesn't have somebody under her yet."

"Hmm? Haven't I been assigned to you?" Ophelia questioned.

"No, I was your...I suppose your proctor. I have to suggest the leader for you, and I think Ursula Svento is good."

"Ursula Svento?"

"Yes, you may heard of her student. Sylvia Lyyneheym. I'm throwing you with her and my apologies for this sudden transfer. But..." Ethan shook his head. "Bah, doesn't matter."

* * *

 **So, a shorter and a slightly worse chapter this time around, but I want to pick up the pace a bit of the story. I don't feel rushed, but I'm estimating that at this rate, I won't be able to go where I want to go any time soon, so...This is going to be it for now. I agree, this is a messy chapter, but only because I've run out of things to simply write about before moving back into the story. Also, from now chapters may be shorter. I don't have the quality to get to 10k words easily such as Shirou Fujimura...I wonder how they manage so much with little effort.  
**

 **Anyhow, favorite, follow, and review! (Also, thanks Gilg for the continuous support!)**


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